A Trainer's Quest
by n8opot8oW
Summary: 5 Years after he was supposed to start his journey, Ash is enjoying life in Pallet Town as Professor Oak's assistant. When an aggressive Pikachu and a new rival enter his life, he begins the trek to become a Pokémon trainer.
1. The Quest Begins

**A/N: This is a Fanfiction based off a challenge introduced to me by the story "A Legend is Born" by kevin1984. (A Legend is Born is rated M. Please do not read if you are not comfortable with more mature themes)**

 **The Guidelines are:**

 **1\. Smart Ash**

 **2\. Ash with Canon and Non Canon Pokèmon**

 **3\. Ash with fully evolved Pokèmon**

 **4\. Ash who has at least two legendary Pokèmon**

 **5\. Ash/Sabrina Pairing as it is rare**

 **6\. Ash is placed higher in the League tournaments**

 **7\. Story must include Pokèmon Movies, although they can be modified as you see fit**

 **Wish me luck :)**

 **A Trainer's Quest**

Ash Ketchum opened his eyes and looked out the window to see that the sun was already high in the sky.

"Ah crap!" he cried, "I'm late!" The boy quickly rolled out of bed and changed into his usual outfit. He made sure to grab his official Pokèmon League hat from its spot on the bedpost. As he dashed down the stairs, he grabbed the bagged lunch that his mom had left for him by the door. He flung the door open and ran through town to the large ranch that was the home of Professor Oak's research lab.

"I'm really sorry I'm late, Professor!" Ash said as he entered the lab. The old man was in his study, no doubt waiting for him.

"It's alright, Ash," Professor Oak said, exiting the study with a book in his hand. "I was planning on giving you the day off since it's your birthday, anyway. Besides, it's been five years since you've been late so I think I can cut you some slack."

Ash smiled. He remembered the last time he had been late well. He had stayed up late on the day before his tenth birthday thinking about becoming a trainer, only to sleep in and be to be too late to receive one. Professor Oak hadn't been sure if he should trust somebody as irresponsible as Ash seemed to be with a Pokèmon after that blunder, so Ash had spent the next year assisting him in taking care of the Pokèmon of other trainers in an effort to convince him. It was during that time that Ash had discovered his gift. He understood Pokèmon more than most people, and could even see their thoughts if he focused hard enough. Ash had grown to enjoy taking care of the Pokèmon, and had taken a full-time position as the professor's aide the next year.

"Thank you, Professor, but you know I enjoy helping out," Ash said, smiling, "any small jobs?" The professor sighed. This boy was just as persistent as usual.

"Well there is a matter of a Pikachu that was sent from a Pokèmon Center last night. He has been panicking and attacks anybody who gets close. We have no idea what happened," he said. Ash smiled, "I'm on it."

Ash walked through the fields of Professor Oak's ranch, saying hello to the occasional Pokèmon that he had befriended. Reaching a small hut in the back of the property, Ash opened the door and walked inside. The hut was one of the breeding chambers that Professor Oak had set up for trainers who wished for their Pokèmon to breed. It was currently unoccupied, and Ash decided it would be a good place to store an unruly Pokèmon like Pikachu while he studied it. He enlarged the Pokèball and set it inside of the breeding chamber. It opened and the yellow mouse Pokèmon popped out.

"Pikaaaaa," the creature snarled, giving Ash a death glare. Ash smiled as he looked down at the Pokèmon.

"It's okay," Ash said, "I'm just going to study you for a little." The mouse snarled again, its cheeks sparking with electricity. Ash sat down on the straw floor and focused on the mouse located safely in the breeding chamber. He allowed the rest of the world around him to fade out. In Ash's mind, he could see all of the Pokèmon around him, outlined in blue energy around him. He looked at Pikachu. Its outline was different. It began to darken into a crimson red. Suddenly, Ash was thrown backward, knocking him back into the real world as he was slammed against the wall of the shack.

Pikachu growled as its tail glowed silver, forming a powerful Iron Tail attack. It smashed its tail into the wall of the breeding chamber, breaking the plastic casing around the chamber and the wooden wall of the shack. It then ran off, squeezing through a hole in the fence surrounding the Oak property and dashing into the distance. Ash stood up, rubbing his head. That had never happened before. More importantly, the aggressive Pikachu he had been charged with watching was now loose in the wild. Newbie trainers tended to try out their Pokèmon around here. If one of them tried to catch it, they could be seriously hurt. Ash ran out the door and jumped onto the fence, climbing over it. He had a Pikachu to find.

Ash sprinted at top speed to the lab entrance where he grabbed a pair of rubber gloves, his bike, and a Pokènav+ that was lent out by the lab. Ash knew exactly how to find Pikachu. He stood still and closed his eyes. He focused on the shape of the Pikachu and looked for that mysterious red signature. But the world didn't fade. His vision remained normal.

"Oh, great," he muttered, "what now?" Ash knew he didn't have all the time in the world. He hopped on his bike and rode down the road along the fence until he reached the point where Pikachu had escaped. Ash gulped. He never left Pallet Town alone. He never needed to with all the Pokèmon he got to see while working with the professor. It wasn't going to be easy but he had no choice. Ash pedaled in the direction he had seen Pikachu leave.

Ash wasn't having the most easy time. A few minutes into his ride he had to ditch his bike as it was getting caught in tall grass and rocks. He was lucky that a wild Pidgey that made its home on Professor Oak's ranch had followed him as it had saved him from a few tough spots against the wild bug types that inhabited the area. He was beginning to wish he had planned this out a little more as the extra time he gained by rushing had gained him nothing so far and the sun was beginning to descend in the sky.

Ash closed his eyes. The area around him began to fade into darkness and he could feel the energy of all the Pokèmon around him. He frowned. With all the distractions of the wild he couldn't see as far as usual. He couldn't even find which direction Oak's lab was in. Suddenly, something caught his eye. A blazing red shape among the blue. It seemed to be near a river as he could see many Magikarp and Goldeen nearby. He had found his Pikachu. Ash quickly allowed the world to come back into focus and dashed in the direction the Pikachu had appeared.

Ash slowed down as he could hear the sound of running water. He began silently sneaking among the trees, making sure to keep out of sight of the electric mouse that he knew was nearby. Peeking out from behind a tree, he saw it taking a drink from the river. He began to sneak up behind Pikachu, removing its Pokèball from his belt whilst doing so. Suddenly, there was a loud crack as Ash stepped on a twig. Pikachu turned towards the sound, its cheeks sparking with electricity. It sent a shock towards Ash, who was able to predict the attack and duck and roll out of its way. The bolt instead hit a flock of Spearow resting their wings in a nearby clearing. They all took off and flew directly towards Pikachu.

"Spearow! Spearow!" The flock called as they flew towards Pikachu, out for blood. Ash grimaced. He knew what he had to do.

"Pidgey! Use Whirlwind!" he shouted. The small brown bird flapped its wings and took off, blowing a powerful burst of air at the Spearow and knocking their flight off course. Ash ran over to Pikachu.

"Alright, Pikachu. I know you don't like me but right now but we need to run. You'll be safest in the Pokèball. I still want to be your friend but we can work on that once we find our way back to Oak's lab. So please. Just get in the ball," he said. Pikachu's cheeks sparked and it turned away from Ash.

"Come on, Pikachu. Please get in!" Ash pleaded. Pikachu still continued to refuse. A Spearow broke off from the main group, still battling a quickly weakening Pidgey, and dove at Pikachu, spiraling in order to turn its beak into a deadly drill.

"Look out, Pikachu!" Ash yelled, jumping in front of him and spreading his arms to act as a shield. Ash saw his life flash before his eyes. Then, everything seemed to slow down. Pikachu suddenly jumped onto Ash's shoulder and then off it, launching itself at the Spearow. Its cheeks began to spark as volts of electricity gathered into its paw, turning into a powerful ThunderPunch. It hit Spearow head on, knocking it out of the air and onto the ground. Ash blinked in surprise.

"Pikachu... you saved me," he said. Pikachu simply turned back and smiled.


	2. History

Ash and Pikachu made eye contact for a single second and things seemed to freeze. Voices spun in Ash's head, the blue forms appeared, but seemed to whirl around him, and he felt his own energy fling forward and collide with Pikachu's. Then, everything went black.

Ash opened his eyes. He was standing in a different part of a forest. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his hand, still flung out as it had been to defend Pikachu. It, along with the rest of his body and clothing, was a glowing translucent blue- the same color of the energy forms that he could observe. Ash took a deep breath.

"Okay, Ash… keep calm. Step by step… first things first… where am I?" he murmured. His voice was strange and distorted, as if he was speaking through a wall of water. He took note of his surroundings and recognized them. He had taken this path a few times when on an assignment from Professor Oak- it was Viridian Forest, near the gateway to Pewter City. A shouting voice coming from around a turn in the path startled him out of his thoughts.

"Come on, Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Ash dashed down the path, stopping to observe the battle. A Pikachu was battling against the trainer's Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was obviously paralyzed, but worked through it to hit the Pikachu into a tree. As Pikachu moved, he could see a trail of blue energy following it, like a phantom. The trainer quickly pulled a Pokéball out of a side-pocket on his backpack, enlarged it, and flung it at the Pokémon. Pikachu was quickly sucked inside and the ball shook for a few seconds before clicking closed. The trainer stepped forward and picked up the ball.

As the trainer turned to face Ash, he recognized the trainer. Three years ago, a trio of trainers had visited Oak's lab while he was out on a research project. Ash had been tasked with granting them their first Pokémon, giving them a choice between Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. He remembered disliking this trainer immediately, as before choosing he started quizzing Ash on what moves and abilities each had. "I want to make sure you don't land me with a dud and give one of the others a good one," he had explained.

The world again spiraled blue around Ash. He rushed to grab onto something, but his blue form slipped right through the tree branches and he felt his feet lift off the ground, flinging him back into darkness.

Ash shook his head and opened his eyes. He was still a shining blue ghost, standing in the stands of the instantly recognizable Pewter City gym. He saw Kyle standing in the trainer's box, facing off against the gym's leader- Brock.

"Onix, use Wrap!" Brock commanded, the Rock Snake lunging forward to wrap around its opponent- Kyle's Bulbasaur.

"Break free, Bulbasaur!" Kyle shouted. Bulbasaur squirmed and struggled, but couldn't break free of the stronger Pokémon's grasp.

"Bulbasaur, I said break free!" the trainer repeated angrily.

"Call out a move!" Ash yelled, grimacing as the Bulbasaur grunted in obvious pain. Nobody paid him any notice, and he suspected that he couldn't be heard in his current state. It was clear that Bulbasaur was not experienced enough in battle to break free without aid from his trainer, aid that Kyle seemed in no hurry to give. Brock also seemed disappointed at Kyle's lack of care for his Pokémon's condition, but quickly instructed his Onix to finish it. Onix wrapped tighter around Bulbasaur until the Pokémon collapsed on the battlefield. It struggled to its feet and roared in determination, but Kyle returned it to its Pokéball.

"The trainer has substituted his Pokémon!"

"Pikachu," Kyle said, pulling a Pokéball off of his belt, "go." Pikachu appeared in a flash of light.

"Kid, you know you can forfeit, train a little, then come back, right? That's a Pikachu. An electric-type isn't going to be able to beat Onix," Brock said.

"I am not a kid!" Kyle snapped, "and I am not going to forfeit! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Pikachu leapt forward, a streak of white forming behind it as it slammed into the side of Onix. Onix barely moved, but the impact of its own attack sent Pikachu flying backward.

"Again!" Kyle shouted.

"Onix, use Wrap!"

As Pikachu attacked yet again, Onix wrapped itself around Pikachu and squeezed.

"Break free!" Kyle yelled again, Pikachu grimaced, but managed to squirm free of the Pokémon's attack. Ash could see a slight yellow spark travel across Onix's body and could see its movement become much more strained. Pikachu's Static had paralyzed it.

"Alright, attack again!" Kyle shouted.

"Tackle, Onix," Brock countered. Although slowed, Pikachu's attack put it right in the path of Onix's tail, which slammed into Pikachu and sent the poor Mouse Pokémon tumbling into the dirt, unable to battle.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Onix is the winner!" the referee announced.

"Bulbasaur, don't embarrass me," Kyle growled, throwing his Pokéball and releasing the Pokémon back onto the battlefield.

"Tackle!" Brock commanded, obviously ready for this battle to be over.

"Vine Whip!" Kyle called. Bulbasaur quickly shot vines out of his bulb and wrapped around the rock-type, aided due to the paralysis' slowing effects. Onix struggled to get free, but as Bulbasaur squeezed around the Pokémon, the super-effective attack took its toll on the Rock-Snake fell to the ground.

"Onix is unable to battle! Bulbasaur is the winner, and so the victory goes to Kyle- the challenger!"

As the referee made this announcement, the words echoed all around Ash and he was transported yet again, opening his eyes on a battlefield. Pikachu was ducking and weaving to avoid the Vine Whips of Bulbasaur. One slammed hard into it and sent it flying. It landed and shook off the damage before getting hit by another.

"Get back up, Pikachu! Bulbasaur needs to train!" Kyle commanded. Pikachu grunted but got to its feet, only to be thrown to the ground again.

"This isn't training…" Ash murmured, "it's… it's torture!"

"I don't have a use for Pokémon that lose. They're only good to make the ones that don't stronger," Kyle growled, "remember that." He returned both Bulbasaur and Pikachu to their Pokéballs.

Ash was transported again, landing in a field next to the rapidly rising slope of Mt. Moon. A tent was set up a short distance away, but Pikachu stood alone, facing off against the large rocks that littered the valley. It charged forward, leaping into the air and twisting. Its tail glittered lightly and Pikachu slammed it into the rock, but the rock did not budge as Pikachu hit it, rolling to the ground. Pikachu stood up again and repeated his action, over and over, slowly building the power of its attack into a full-on Iron Tail. The Pokémon continued its training throughout the night until it was able to use Iron Tail and smash any rock in the field.

The world seemed to spin around Ash as a series of battles unfurled around him. Pikachu defeating a Rhyhorn with Iron Tail. Pikachu being defeated by a drill peck. Pikachu training to use Thunderpunch to defend itself from close-up attacks, learning to battle close up. None of it took place with his trainer. Pikachu would refuse to "train" with Kyle, whose training style seemed to be made up solely of attacking Pokémon who were weaker, far past the point of reason. Despite Pikachu's growing power and skill, Kyle still obviously resented it, occasionally refusing to heal it after its solo training sessions, leading to it easily being defeated. Despite the loss being Kyle's fault, Pikachu would still get a beating from the other Pokémon, simply because he had lost a battle.

Eventually, it was obvious that Pikachu had enough. It was sent out to battle 5 of Kyle's other Pokémon at once, and it leapt into the air, using Thundershock to knock out two of them- a Fearow and a Growlithe, then defeating a Dugtrio with an Iron Tail, a Beedrill with a Thunderpunch, and finishing off a Raticate with Quick Attack. It stood in the battlefield, surrounded by the other Pokémon. A man, standing at the side of the field, walked up and tapped Kyle on the back. Kyle spun around to face him.

"That Pikachu, kid, is a powerful Pokémon indeed."

"Yeah, but it's disobedient. No use in battle, and apparently not even in training anymore," Kyle responded.

"Then… if you would like… I can take it off your hands. I run a small business, supplying electricity for clients who would prefer to stay… off the grid. We need electric-types like that one to generate power. I'd be willing to pay handsomely."

Ash gasped. Not only was selling Pokémon supposed to be limited to licensed businesses, but even more restricted was the use of Electric-Type Pokémon as generators. Due to health concern, it was restricted to highly trained professionals, and highly monitored by Pokémon League officials. Even then, they were supposed to be limited to backup emergency generators, not a professional or permanent power supply. Even if he was only using the Pokémon as backup generators, if this man's business was as "off the grid" as he claimed, then there was no way he was doing it legally. He was even more surprised as Kyle stuck out his hand and shook the man's.

Kyle handed over Pikachu's Pokéball and left with an envelope filled with money. As Pikachu backed away, clearly frightened by the man, the man simply held out the Pokéball. Pikachu attempted to flee, but was sucked inside.

Pikachu was taken to a warehouse somewhere in the woods, far away from people. Inside, Pikachu was strapped into a glass container, connectors placed on its cheek pouches. For months, it was forced to keep up with ever-rising power demand. If it was unable to generate enough, it would be beaten and attacked until it was exhausted, then they would give it a day to rest before putting it right back to work. Finally, it was one day able to surprise its captors' Pokémon with an Iron Tail and escape into the woods. Still exhausted, it didn't make it far before collapsing.

Pikachu got lucky from there. A wandering trainer found the badly injured mouse and, unable to find a trainer nearby, carried it to a Pokémon Center. When no trainer came by looking for the Pokémon, nor did a missing Pikachu report show up on any of their systems, Nurse Joy deactivated the link between Pikachu and its Pokéball, capturing it in another one while it was sleeping. Despite several attempts to train the rouge mouse, it wouldn't let another human near it. Eventually, it was sent to Professor Oak, where it met Ash.

Ash opened his eyes. His arms were flung out, and he was back in the woods facing off against the flock of Spearow. Pikachu was looking expectantly at him, waiting for a command. Ash could recognize what had happened. He had just seen Pikachu's history. That was real. All of it

"Alright, Pikachu. Use Thundershock!" Ash said. Pikachu nodded, leaping into the air and launching a powerful Thundershock at the flock of Spearow. The attack didn't knock them out, but did succeed in scattering them enough that Ash could run in and retrieve Pidgey. Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder and Ash took off through the woods. He was lost, but knew that the stream ran by a route eventually. If he got there he should be able to get back to the lab safely, maybe recruit the help of traveling trainers to defeat the flock. Not long after, he realized that he had definitely been going the wrong way. He stood at a cliff, the stream pouring down in the form of a waterfall. The Spearow were quickly approaching.

"Pikachu, hold on tight." Ash said, hugging Pidgey close to his chest. He looked back for a split second and saw the Spearow fast approaching. There was no time to find another path. He stepped back, took a deep breath, and took a running jump off the cliff and plunged toward the pool below.


	3. A Friendship is Born

**A/N:**  
 **Alright, sorry for the huge delay, school got really hectic a while back and I got writer's block in the middle of rewriting this chapter. I've got a whole bunch written and assuming I don't have to do to many more complete scrap jobs, I should be able to get a whole bunch out much faster. I'll try to release a few more pretty quickly as an apology. :)**

Ash splashed down at the bottom of the waterfall. He kicked and struggled, but water poured down on top of him, twisting him around until he couldn't tell which way was up. He couldn't use his arms without letting go of Pidgey, and he could feel Pikachu clinging onto his shoulder. He was running out of breath. Suddenly, he felt a touch on his shoulder and the water around him suddenly vanished. He landed, out of breath, on the sand and opened his eyes. He was lying on the shore of the river, a little ways down from the waterfall. A girl with blue hair was standing over him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked, "Those Pokémon could have gotten hurt!"

Ash coughed, taking a minute to breathe before speaking. "I can explain later, right now there's a flock of angry Spearow and they're not very happy with Pikachu and I."

As Ash spoke, the Spearow reached the cliff and began to swoop down toward the beach.

"You've got a Pokémon, battle them!" the girl shouted.

"There are too many to fight alone! You hit one and another three keep on coming!"

"Maybe too many for one trainer, but maybe not for two," she said, "Abra, now!"

The Abra, which had been standing calmly next to Ash since using its Teleport attack to rescue him, vanished and appeared in the air. Its hand flashed with a yellow light and slammed into a Spearow, knocking it into the water. Before the Abra's body could fall into the water, it vanished again, appearing in front of another, which it hit with another of the same attack and sent plunging into the water.

"An Abra that knows Thunderpunch?" Ash asked, surprised.

"I'm full of surprises," the girl said, grinning.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" Ash called, deciding to join the battle. As a group descended towards Abra in the air, Abra teleported to the top of the waterfall where it calmly watched as its former attackers were hit by Pikachu's Thundershock attack. Another made its way toward Pikachu.

"Thunderpunch!" Ash commanded. Pikachu leapt toward the Spearow and punched it back into another, sharing the electrical shock and sending both into the water. With so many of their comrades defeated, the Spearow turned around and flew away. Pikachu and Abra returned to their partners and the two trainers turned, shaking hands.

"Thanks for the help," Ash said.

"Not a problem. Couldn't have some Spearow ruining my meditation."

"I'm Ash Ketchum, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Ash Ketchum, I'm Sabrina. Sabrina Natsume."

Ash checked his Pokénav+ and cursed. It was dead and the water had clearly damaged it.

"So, you don't happen to know the way to the nearest Pokémon Center, do you?" he asked.

"I'll tell you what, Abra needs to rest after using that much energy, I'll lead you there."

The two trainers walked together and Ash explained what had happened, from receiving Pikachu and his visions to leaping off the cliff to keep Pidgey safe. Although still weak, a few Oran Berries that Sabrina had on hand gave it enough energy to flutter from tree to tree alongside them. Sabrina was most interested in Ash's visions.

"So, you and Pikachu made eye contact, and then you two shared some sort of vision?"

"Yeah, that's about the size of it."

"And you can see a Pokémon's inner energy when you focus hard enough?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm no expert on the subject, but… well, let's just say I'm no stranger to bonds between Pokémon and humans. What you're describing sounds like a form of Aura. I don't know much about it, but if I'd hazard a guess I'd say the visions were formed from the bond generated when you and Pikachu saved each other's lives. You'd been using your abilities enough that that kind of bond forming between the two of you acted as a sort of catalyst, strengthening the energy. You'd been asking Pikachu what was wrong, why it was so angry, and so Pikachu's aura showed you the answer."

"I guess that makes sense…" Ash said, "How do you know so much about stuff like this?"

"I told you, my family is no stranger to bonds between humans and Pokémon. Abra and I have our own methods of communication."

"I meant to ask, are you taking on the gym challenge? It doesn't look like you have a starting Pokémon from Professor Oak."

"No, my only other Pokémon is a Slowpoke, and it doesn't really battle. I'm more on a self-training journey."

"Self training?"

"It's a long story. Let's just say… I needed a change of scenery."

Sabrina quickly walked ahead, head down. She obviously didn't want to talk about it. Ash got out his Pokénav+, which had begun to dry. Despite the water damage, he could see the screen and managed to call Professor Oak.

"Ash, is that you? Where have you been?"

"Sorry, Professor. Pikachu took off and I had to follow it. It's strong, and considering how aggressive it was toward humans I didn't want to risk it attacking a beginner. It's been a trek, I only just got to a place where I could talk."

"I'm sorry, Ash, I can't hear you very well, is your Pokénav okay?"

"I'll call you later," Ash said, increasing the volume, "I damaged it escaping some wild Spearow."

"Okay, Ash. I'll leave the line free. Call me as soon as you get a chance."

"Of course, Professor." Ash said, hanging up the device. A short walk later and they reached the outskirts of Viridian City. Small checkpoints had been set up to guard the city's various entrances. The checkpoint facing Ash was guarded by Officer Jenny. Sabrina flashed her trainer card at the officer, who opened the gate, closing it for Ash. He pulled out his Pokénav, crossing his fingers that the digital trainer card could still be accessed. To his disappointment, it could not.

"Officer, I swear. I'm an intern for Professor Oak, Pikachu and Pidgey both belong to the ranch, that's why they're not in Pokéballs," Ash said.

"Sorry, kid. Without an ID, I can't let you in."

"I am responsible for these Pokémon, and I'm not just going to leave them."

Sabrina tapped the officer on the shoulder.

"Officer, I can vouch for him," she said.

"Okay, look. I'll take you to the Pokémon Center and stay with you until you can show me your ID online. Deal?"

"Absolutely, Officer," Ash said. The officer took the three trainers to the center on her bike, then went inside. Ash used a PC to print a paper copy of his trainer card, and after Officer Jenny confirmed its legitimacy she left. Ash left his 2 Pokémon with Nurse Joy and used the PC to call Professor Oak.

"Ash, good to hear from you. Your data shows that you're in... Viridian City! What are you doing there?"

"Sorry, Professor, Pikachu ran off. It was a danger to trainers and itself, so I felt it was my responsibility to chase after it."

"Well I'm glad you stayed safe. I trust that's why that Pidgey was missing from the last check-in?"

"Yes, Professor. I worked with it a little while ago, I think it came with me to help protect me"

"Well I'm glad it did, traveling alone would have been a mistake. I would have given you a Pokémon if you had asked."

"Speaking of giving trainers Pokémon, can you look up a trainer named Kyle for me, I need to know where he is."

"Is something wrong?"

"Listen. While I was going after Pikachu, my powers acted up. A friend said it happened because we saved each other's lives. I saw Pikachu's past. A trainer we entrusted with a Pokémon… well he caught Pikachu and abused it, then sold it to an illegal underground Power Generation company."

"And this boy's name was Kyle?"

"Yes, Professor. I remember giving him his Pokémon myself. You were out of town."

"I will look into it. You, Pidgey, and Pikachu should all get some rest; I'll send over an order for a room at the center for you."

"Thank you, Professor."

Ash hung up. The room was soon rented and Ash went to the center's cafe to get himself some dinner before bed. Pikachu hopped onto the bench next to him, nibbling on a Pokémon Treat.

"Hey," a voice said, and Sabrina slid into the booth across from Ash.

"Hey, how's Abra?"

"Exhausted," she said, "But healthy. A bit of time to rest in his Pokéball and he should be back to teleporting shape in no time at all. I see Pikachu is doing okay."

"Yeah," Ash replied, "Pidgey is still resting, though."

"So, you're headed back to Pallet tomorrow?"

"I'm… not so sure. This whole thing between Pikachu and Kyle is still bugging me. I need some way to… teach him a lesson, to stop him from hurting more Pokémon."

"I get that… but what can you do? What Kyle did is screwed up but there's not any evidence other than the testimony of a trainer and his Pokémon, one of whom didn't even see the crimes."

"And there's no way that I can use my powers to prove it?"

"Not really… sorry."

"Then… I don't know…"

Suddenly, the lights all around the Pokémon Center went dark. It was night, and the only light was from the moon and surrounding buildings.

"Is that supposed to happen?"

"No," Sabrina whispered.

The two trainers got up, Pikachu hopping onto Ash's shoulder as he left the booth. The lights in the Pokémon Center were all off, and the emergency generator seemed to have not kicked in.

"Something's up," Ash said. Chansey rushed out of the back of the Pokémon Center. Ash walked over.

"Is everything alright?" Chansey shook its head quickly.

"I'm going to go check things out," Ash said, "You go check the rooms, see if there are any trainers in the halls who can help." Sabrina nodded. As Ash went to go behind the desk, Chansey eyed him cautiously, moving to block his path. Ash showed the Pokemon his ID.

"I'm a Professor's Assistant and a Trainer. You can trust me not to disturb the Pokèmon," he said. Chansey smiled and stepped aside. It was actually happy to have the help as long as the boy was safe.

Ash jumped over the desk. He walked forward and into the main health clinic. Small scratches and bruises were cured in this area. He thought he could hear voices, and they didn't sound like the Joys he usually ran into. He pressed his ear to the wall. They were in the computer server room that ran the tech in the center.

"Are you sure we won't be disturbed?" a feminine voice asked, obviously irritated.

"I'm sure. The locks on the rooms are all electronic. Without a signal, they default to locked position. They have emergency exits, but they lead to the outside of the building, and we've barred the all the non-electronic doors.

"Jessie! James! We've got an intruder!" the Meowth shouted. Wait… The Meowth could talk? Two figures stepped out of a door from the computer room.

"Don't worry," a boy about Ash's age, perhaps a bit older, said, "We're just here to take the Pokèmon, then you can be on your way." The girl, a red-headed girl who looked around 19, laughed.

"Of course, we'll have to shut you up so you don't get any bright ideas about telling people about us," she said.

"Jessie, you don't tell him that," the boy said, head in hands.

"I've got seniority, James, I decide what to say and not say."

"Let's just get to the motto already," James responded, sighing and shaking his head.

"Prepare for trouble," Jessie said.

"Make it double," continued James

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight"

The meowth jumped in front of them and said, "Meowth, that's right!"

"Team Rocket?!" Ash said, "You're that group of criminals that steals Pokèmon!" James smiled.

"Well, well, well! It looks like this twerp has heard of us!" Jessie taunted.

"I have, and I'm not letting you take the Pokémon from this Center!"

"We'll see about that! Go Ekans!" Jessie responded, throwing out the Poison-Type snake Ekans.

"Pikachu!" Ash called. Pikachu leapt off his shoulder and between Ash and the snake. "Use ThunderPunch!" Pikachu nodded and ran forward, quickly slamming into Ekans with an electrically charged paw. Ekans flew backward, shocking Jessie as it fell, dazed.

"Why, you… Ekans, use Poison Sting!"

Ekans turned and launched poisonous barbs at Pikachu.

"Use ThunderShock, try to deflect the barbs!" Ash suggested. Pikachu launched the attack and the electricity managed to disintegrate most of the barbs. The electricity carried on to shock both Ekans and Jessie. Ekans collapsed, unable to battle.

"Koffing! Destiny Bond!" James commanded, throwing out a Pokéball of his own. Koffing appeared and used the attack, glowing blue. Ash hesitated, but Pikachu nodded toward him.

"Alright, if you're sure. Use ThunderPunch!" Ash said. Pikachu braced himself and leapt forward, slamming into Koffing with an electric paw. Koffing fell to the ground, unable to battle. The blue energy traveled into Pikachu, who collapsed.

"Well, then. I guess I'm next. Meowth said, stepping forward. His claws unsheathed. Ash grabbed Pikachu, but he was unable to battle due to the effects of Destiny Bond. Ash was defenseless. Suddenly, from behind the trio, there was a flash. A yawning sound echoed around the hallway, and Meowth curled up and went to sleep. Sabrina stood behind Team Rocket, Slowpoke out of its Pokéball. She returned the Pokémon and smiled at Ash.

"Sorry I'm late," she said.

"No need," Ash replied, "I had things under control."

"Sure you did."

Ash chuckled. Chansey ran over to Pikachu, glowing with a pink energy that transferred to Pikachu. Pikachu woke up as Chansey collapsed in exhaustion.

"Alright, Pikachu, let's take these three out. Use Thundershock!"

Pikachu jumped into the air and hit all three of the Team Rocket members with a powerful Thundershock, sending them flying into the air, they crashed through a sunroof and went flying off into the night. As they disappeared, Ash heard them shout.

"We'll be back, twerp! Mark our words! We'll make you pay no matter what it takes! But until then, Team Rocket's Blasting Off Again!"

Sabrina ran over to Ash. "We did it!" she shouted, hugging Ash. Almost immediately, she let go.

"Sorry about that. Just got a little overexcited," she muttered. Ash and Sabrina's faces both turned crimson.

The two found Nurse Joy tied up and gagged in a closet. They freed her and Ash explained what happened. She reactivated the center's power and the three returned the stolen Pokémon to their trainers. The nurse thanked Ash for his help and gave him a small card, promising him that it would allow access to one of the medium-quality rooms at any Pokèmon Center. She had also taken the liberty of helping to get him a new Pokénav+ and installing all his old data onto it. Ash thanked her and returned to his room to sleep through the night.

The next morning, Ash was interrupted from eating breakfast when the Nurse informed him that he had a call on the PC from Professor Oak.

"Ash, good to see you. From what the nurse tells me, you had a rather eventful evening!" he said.

"Yes, sir. If you'd believe it, Pikachu and I foiled a plan from Team Rocket to steal all the Pokémon from the Pokémon Center."

"I must say I'm impressed. I've always thought while watching you work with the Pokémon at my lab that you'd make an excellent trainer."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm afraid I have bad news, though. I just looked into the information you supplied me. Kyle did indeed have a Pikachu at one point, but he informed me that he released it at one point. I was never a fan of his methods, they seem rather harsh for my tastes." Ash growled.

"But there's nothing we can do about it, is there?"

"I'm afraid not… and that's not the worst news"

"What could possibly worse than that?" Ash groaned.

"Kyle… is on a reservation list for the next Pokémon league challenge. He is slated with a rather high chance to win and become Kanto's next champion!"

"What?! No way!" Ash yelled. Trainers around the center turned to look at him.

"I'm afraid so… I don't like it any more than you do, but…"

"I'll stop him." Ash interrupted.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'll stop him. I can leave from here, take Pikachu, and take on the league. You said yourself that I'd make a good trainer. If I don't, then kids all over the world will grow up looking up to him as a champion. I won't allow that."

"Ash, even for you, the chances that you'll be able to gather the badges, train a team, and challenge the league are slim."

"I have to try, Professor." Professor Oak lowered his head in defeat, then smiled.

"Alright, Ash. I can submit your application to the league.

"Thank you, Professor. I'll send Pidgey flying home before I leave. I'll transmit my new Pokénav data so you know how to get in touch." Oak nodded.

"You'll get confirmation on your Pokenav before you know it. And Ash… Good luck."

"Thank You."

Ash hung up the call and jumped as a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

"I couldn't help but overhear you. You're going to challenge the league?" Sabrina asked.

"It's the only way I'm gonna take down Kyle."

"Still, you seem pretty confident for somebody who doesn't even have a single badge yet. I was thinking that you might want some traveling company. I can give you some training tips," she said. Ash laughed. "Not really sure I'll need the traveling advice, but you're welcome to come along if you'd really like to.

Sabrina laughed. "And there's that confidence again," she said. "So, where to first?"

Ash pulled out his Pokènav and searched up gym locations. He saw that the nearest one was right in Viridian, but saw that it was also very difficult. It was known as the final gateway due to its close vicinity to the entrance to the Pokèmon League and the skill level of the gym leader. He decided that instead he would head through Viridian Forest to Pewter City and challenge the gym that was located there. He explained the plan to Sabrina, who nodded in approval.

"Well, I'm already packed and ready to go whenever you are," Sabrina said.

Ash smiled as Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "Well then, let's get going!"


	4. The Forest

**A/N:  
Back to back releases because I was feeling motivated to edit another chapter! Hope you enjoy! Reviews would be much appreciated; compliments, comments, suggestions, and criticism are all welcome!**

The two trainers made their way through the gate and into Viridian Forest. Ash heard a rustling noise and immediately took off through the trees, coming to a stop in front of a Caterpie. He slipped a Pokèball off his belt and threw it, eager to make his first catch. The ball shook several times, the light on it blinking. Finally, the ball clicked closed. Ash picked it up and threw it in the air, allowing Caterpie to exit and meet Pikachu, who jumped off Ash's shoulder to meet the new arrival.

"Bugs…" Sabrina said, "not my favorite things ever. Psychic types are weak to them." Ash smiled.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense, but it seems Caterpie is a fan of you," he said, watching as Caterpie nuzzled against Sabrina's leg. She smiled.

"Aww, it's kinda cute," she said, reaching down and patting it on the head.

"I've never really had trouble with Caterpies. Butterfree's psychic powers always made up for it being a bug type. Just don't even talk to me about Weedle and his evolutions. Gross..." Caterpie fired a string shot onto Ash's backpack and crawled onto the top, where it curled up.

"I guess you don't want to travel in your Pokèball, either," Ash said, "fine by me." The two journeyed along happily, making jokes to one another as Ash, with advice from Sabrina, began training Pikachu.

"I would recommend you use Pikachu for the gym battle, as its Iron Tail should be able to take Brock's Rock-Types down with ease," she said. Ash frowned, remembering Pikachu's hard but futile attempt at earning his master's forgiveness by learning the move for that very reason.

"Yeah. Seems like a good strategy. I need to train Caterpie for a little, but even when it evolves it will be at a type disadvantage. Still, it does learn moves like Sleep Powder which can be useful if my back's against the wall. Pikachu, dodge and use Thunderpunch!" he said, strategizing with Sabrina while training Pikachu against a wild Weedle. The Weedle was nearing defeat when Ash pulled out one of the potions he had bought from the store using his salary from being Oak's assistant. He sprayed it on the Weedle.

"No need to be afraid, little guy. I'm just getting in a bit of training. Sorry for the trouble," he said. Sabrina frowned. "What are you doing, Ash? You challenged it and defeated it! Weedle are highly prideful and tend to not give up till the knock-out punch," she said, right before the Weedle angrily stung Ash's hand. He quickly pulled out an Antidote and sprayed it on the sting, just in case. In the meantime, the Weedle dashed away. Sabrina shook her head.

"You are too nice to the Pokèmon you beat. They know when to sneak away and they know where to heal themselves. You don't need to do it yourself. It's an insult to their intelligence," she said, "Prideful Pokèmon like Weedle's line are going to be extra upset if you do things like that." Ash frowned.

"I never thought about it that way. I've always healed up the Pokèmon I battled while helping trainers train their Pokèmon on Oak's Ranch," he responded.

"Well those were ranch Pokèmon. Most of them had probably hadn't left the ranch for years. They're used to being fed, healed, and studied," she said, "Very different from wild Pokèmon."

Ash continued walking, lost in thought. He had never really bothered to prepare for his Pokémon journey before he turned 10, and the last 5 years had been spent learning how to raise the Pokèmon in the lab. He knew basic battle strategies like utilizing type matchups, but he was relatively new to the idea of fully wild Pokèmon. Caterpie would be easy compared to what he would have to train if he was going to beat the Pokèmon League. He decided he would check the library in the Pokèmon Center after he got there. Ash and Sabrina were walking down the path when they saw a slight break in the trees, with a bunch of bug catchers running around.

"What's going on there?" Ash asked. "Oh, nothing. These idiots are trying to catch Pokèmon strong enough to beat this one weirdo bug catcher called the Samurai. He's kinda a local legend," Sabrina responded. Ash grinned

"Well then it's time to write a new legend," he joked.

Ash made quick work of most of the catchers. Caterpie, although weak, was useful in the battles against other trainers' freshly caught Caterpie. By the time a few of the bug catchers had been defeated, he had evolved into Metapod and learned Harden. Pikachu also got in on the fun, jumping around and ThunderPunching most of the Weedles, as Ash didn't want Metapod to get poisoned.

At last, Ash defeated them all, and was able to continue down the clearing to reach a single boy dressed like a samurai standing on top of a tree stump.

"Samurai, I presume?" Ash said. The boy smiled.

"And you would be Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I heard about you on the TV. Very interesting how you turned up out of nowhere to join the Pokèmon League.

"I'm on TV?" Ash asked, surprised.

"Of course! No trainer sponsored by Professor Oak himself despite not having a single gym badge is going to go unnoticed," the boy replied, "Sadly, you will have to deal with a loss as I will defeat you here!" he said, pulling out a Pokèball and throwing it out, revealing a Pinsir. Ash gasped. He hadn't seen a single Pinsir since entering the forest.

Ash smiled. "I knew you would be better than the rest, and now I can see why. This should be fun. Let's go Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and onto the ground. Pinsir stood battle-ready, glaring at the duo. Ash smiled. "Now, use ThunderPunch!" Pikachu charged his paw and jumped into the air, landing a clean hit in Pinsir's face. It shook off the attack and stood ready once again.

"Pinsir! Seismic Toss!" Samurai shouted. Pinsir ran at an incredible speed towards Pikachu.

"Jump, Pikachu!" Ash quickly countered. Pikachu jumped over Pinsir's head, right as the Samurai called out his next attack.

"Vicegrip, now!". The Vicegrip attack caught Pikachu in Pinsir's claws, squeezing it until it. Ash grimaced. Pikachu couldn't take much more of that.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted. Pikachu used its Iron Tail attack and smashed it into Pinsir's face, sending it falling to the ground with Pikachu still trapped in its claws. When the dust cleared, both Pokèmon were unable to battle.

The Samurai laughed. "You underestimate me, trainer! I am not done yet! Go! Metapod!" he said, sending out a Metapod. Ash frowned. The only other Pokèmon he had was…

"Go Metapod!" Ash sent out his own Metapod, who was battle ready… for a Metapod. Both of the cocoon Pokèmon basically just sat there.

"All right Metapod, use Harden!" Ash called out. "Counter it with Harden!" called out the Samurai. Both of them stood there for a few minutes while there Metapods Hardened to their maximum defense stat. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Oh for goodness sake. Metapod, use Tackle," he said. Metapod jumped into the air and slammed into the opposing Metapod, sending it flying backwards into a tree, already unable to battle. Ash's Metapod began to glow. It broke in half and a Butterfree fluttered out of it.

"Freeee Freeee Butterfreeeee," it called. Ash smiled. "Congratulations, Butterfree! You evolved!" Ash said, ecstatic that his friend had reached his final stage of evolution. Suddenly, Ash felt something. A splitting headache darted through his mind, and for a split second shapes around him glowed red. This was a strong aura, similar to the red energy given off by Pikachu, but not as powerful. Despite the faint level of anger, the sheer number had been enough to draw his ability's attention. Ash closed his eyes. All around him there were red shapes, closing in. Ash opened his eyes.

"Oh, no," he said.

"What's wrong?" asked Sabrina.

"Everybody run!" Ash yelled, as buzzing figures burst into the clearing, "Beedrill swarm!" The Poison Bee Pokèmon broke in on all sides, causing chaos to erupt. Even the Samurai was startled.

"What did we ever do to them? We catch all the Weedles we battle! We never did anything to threaten them!" he shouted. Ash's eyes widened.

"Oh, no. This is my fault…" Ash quickly performed a head-count. "Sabrina! How many people can Abra teleport a safe distance away at once without hurting itself?" he asked.

"Given about the time it's have to rest, I'd say about seven," she said. Ash frowned.

"There are eight people here," he said. "Abra will only listen to you, he'll need you if anyone's going to leave. Pikachu won't go in his Pokèball. I need you to take him as well. Get the catchers and Pikachu out of here. If we get out of here, we'll meet up in Pewter City!" Sabrina frowned. She had grown attached to Ash. They were friends. She didn't want to leave him behind, but she knew his plan was the best in the situation. She gathered up the bug catchers and had Abra Teleport them out of the clearing. They reappeared a small distance from the Pewter City gate. Sabrina looked back into the forest and quietly whispered, "Be careful, Ash...".


	5. Welcome to the Hidden Village

Ash quickly rolled, dodging a sting from Beedrill's tail, knowing full well that it held the most toxic poison. Weedle had obviously told them about him specifically because Samurai wasn't being attacked as much. With Ash busy dodging, Butterfree was flying above the swarm, trying to attack with its Tackle attack. Ash couldn't reach his Pokèdex to check its new moves. Then, a single line ran through his head.

"Butterfree's Psychic abilities...". The reason Sabrina didn't mind Butterfree. He swallowed. He had battled other novice trainers at Oak's ranch using a Butterfree before. At this level, the most likely candidate for a Psychic-Type move would be… Ash turned his hat backwards, then quickly ducked and rolled to the closest spot he could get to the battling Bug Types and called out his attack.

"Butterfree, use Confusion!" The Butterfly Pokèmon, hearing his words, quickly began taking down as many Beedrill as he could with the attack. He could hold about three at a time, but he was quickly tiring out, and many groups of Beedrill had switched targets from the Samurai, who had run into the woods screaming for his mother, to Butterfree. He was poisoned and tired and it was no surprise when he was finally unable to battle and fell to the ground. Ash saw his friend on the ground and saw the Beedrill heading right towards him with its central, most poisonous stinger. He took a deep breath and took off at full speed, jumping in front of Beedrill and closing his eyes.

A sudden burst of wind blew the Beedrill off course, blowing it into a tree, where its stinger got stuck. Plummeting from the sky at full speed after just using Gust was a Pidgey, who stopped for one second to drop a package in Ash's hand before landing securely on his arm. It opened its wings and blew a powerful Whirlwind attack, blowing all the Beedrill back into the forest. It then took off and at an amazing speed hit all of them with a Quick Attack, which combined with the damage done by Butterfree was enough to defeat it. Pidgey began to glow as it landed on the ground and evolved into Pidgeotto.

Ash quickly returned the fallen Butterfree to his Pokèball and then ran away as fast as he could, not wanting to further anger the Beedrill. The Pidgeotto continued to follow him. After reaching a safe distance from the clearing, Ash sat down on a fallen tree and opened the package, revealing a note and a Pokèball.

 _Ash,_  
 _Pidgey was very restless after returning from your care. After I fed it and made sure it was in good health, I gave it this package, telling him that if he wanted to he could come join you on your journey. If you are reading this, then Pidgey is yours now. Make me proud._  
 _-Oak_  
 _P.S. This Particular Pidgey is very close to evolving. Enjoy._

Ash smiled.

"I thought I recognized you back when you saved me. So you want to join our journey, huh? Pidgeotto nodded. Ash placed his hand on the Bird Pokémon's head.

"Welcome to the team, Pidgeotto!"

Ash quickly made his way back to the path, sprayed a bit of repel to hopefully keep any remaining Beedrill away, and opened his Pokènav+, loading the map of nearby Pokèmon Centers. Butterfree was very hurt after defending Ash from all of those Beedrill. He had promised to meet up with Sabrina but had no way to get a message to her without sending Pidgeotto, who not only wasn't a Pokèmon Sabrina knew but was Ash's only battle-ready Pokèmon. He found the closest Pokèmon Center. It seemed to be down a cliff and in a bit of a valley but Ash decided that he could reach it without too much trouble. He had packed an escape rope so if all else failed he could climb down.

Ash made his way to the cliff fairly effortlessly. Pidgeotto's Whirlwind and the Repel he had sprayed took care of keeping wild Pokèmon away. He looked down. It was larger than he expected- about 45 feet. He noticed a small path led about halfway down. It was very narrow and he was forced to travel very slowly. Making it to the halfway point, he tied his escape rope onto an outcropping of rocks and used it to rappel to the ground. He silently made a mental note to thank Professor Oak for asking him to be a summer camp counselor a few years prior, as only there had he learned how to climb.

Reaching a small stream, Ash nealt down and took a drink. Pidgeotto quickly flew off and returned with some berries that it had deemed safe to eat. Ash smiled and thanked it, giving it half of what it had brought. He looked down at the river, wondering how he was going to get across, when he noticed something strange. A Vaporeon was swimming in it! Not only that, but the area downstream from the Vaporeon was tinted red. Ash grimaced. Vaporeon was hurt. He reached for a Pokèball, deciding to capture it and get it to the Pokèmon Center, when a green shape slammed into his chest. It knocked him into the water, which dragged him further downstream. When he climbed out, he noticed the green shape head in the opposite direction away from the stream. Ash frowned. The Vaporeon was gone. Pokémon didn't usually attack trainers without reason, so something was up. He decided to follow it and find out.

Ash followed the mysterious Pokèmon's trail to a path through the woods. It was headed back towards the cliff but Ash knew there was no way up so he knew it couldn't be that far away. He was walking along silently when a net that had been strung under the earth was triggered by an almost invisible tripwire, sending Ash up into the tree. After pausing to laugh for a few seconds, Ash was freed by Pidgeotto, who simply pecked through the rope. Now wary of traps, Ash had made his way through pretty much trouble free. He had caught a couple of pitfalls and another net. Finally, he turned a corner and made his way into a clearing next to the cliff.

A small spring that fed off into a creek was in the middle, a small dirt road circled around it, with a small wooden bridge going over the creek. There were two huts set up- one small shed and another hut that was larger and looked like it had space for one person to live in it. A girl with dark blue hair running down her back and overalls was currently kneeling at the side of the river, helping the injured Vaporeon out of the water. Suddenly, he was tackled again and a shape Ash now recognized as a Bulbasaur was on top of him. It growled. Pidgeotto flew up into the air and prepared to dive down into an attack.

"Stop," Ash said. Pidgeotto then flew and landed in a nearby tree, waiting for further commands. "Bulbasaur," Ash said, "I see what happened now. This place is like a sanctuary, I'm guessing. A place where Wild Pokèmon can come and heal. I'm a friend to Pokèmon. I thought that Vaporeon was injured and I was going to take it to a Pokèmon Center to heal it,".

The girl had by this point noticed Ash and walked over to where he was lying.

"Pokèmon Center?," she scoffed, "No way. Pokèmon Centers coop up the Pokèmon when they're seriously injured and make them act like tame, trainers' Pokèmon so they can hand them off later. Our goal is to let these Pokèmon get released into the wild later, and find a trainer they like if they want to. I call it my hidden village."

Ash nodded. "I think I get it. You want to let Pokèmon have a place to recover in their natural habitat without having to worry about them getting caught. It's an amazing concept. Now here, I'll let you take my bag and all of my Pokèballs if you'll help me. My Butterfree helped fend off a group of Beedrill and it's seriously hurt. Can you help it?" Melanie had Ash send out Butterfree, who fluttered weakly. She promised to do the best she could to heal it. She also let Ash borrow a communicator that she kept for emergencies. She quickly called up the Pewter Pokèmon Center and asked the Nurse Joy if a girl named Sabrina was there.

Sabrina couldn't believe it. She hadn't heard from Ash in two days and had thought he hadn't made it. She had been about to head for home when he'd called her saying something about healing his Butterfree. He then had asked her to wait there for a few days while he nursed Butterfree back to health. Sabrina happily agreed.

Back in the village, Ash quickly was integrated into the care schedule. With Bulbasaur's constant watch and no potions allowed except in absolute emergencies, Ash had to be taught how things worked around the village. Pidgeotto was recruited to help gather berries for the injured Pokèmon, and did a great job at it. Ash learned how the healing process worked, quickly gaining the trust of the wild Pokèmon. The villiage used natural healing methods, such as utilizing Vaporeon's Water Absorb by having it swim in the creek to heal it, creating healing powders and pastes from berries, and simply having the Pokémon participate in physical therapy regimens.

Butterfree was getting better by the day. Thanks to an expertly mixed berry paste from Melanie and physical training with Ash, Butterfree's wings healed and he was able to fly again by the 3rd day spent at the village. About a week after he arrived, Butterfree was healthy enough to travel. After promising Bulbasaur multiple times that he wouldn't tell anybody about the village, he was finally allowed to leave. He gave Melanie Professor Oak's phone number in case of emergencies and promised he'd show up if he was needed. After all of that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked through the trees and back onto the path.

At that moment, there was a large shout and a net launched down, capturing many of the Pokèmon in the village. Ash looked up to see where the nets were coming from, he saw two figures and a Meowth holding a net launcher.

"Well, well well," one said, looking at Ash. "If it isn't the twerp from Viridian."

"You three again! Let the Pokèmon go!" Ash yelled. The trio only laughed.

"Prepare for trouble,"  
"Make it double,"  
"To protect the world from devastation,"  
"To unite all peoples within our nation,"  
"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"  
"To extend our reach to the stars above,"  
"Jessie!"  
"And James!"  
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender Now or prepare to fight"  
"Meowth, that's right!"

Ash rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, you said that last time. Now I'll say it again. Let the Pokèmon go!" he said.

"As if," James said, holding a Pokèball in his hand, "Go! Koffing!" James threw the Pokèball and the Poison-Type Koffing appeared. Jessie cackled.

"It looks like we have the high ground, especially with your little birdy locked in a cage," she said, pointing to one of the nets where Pidgeotto was trapped. Ash grinned as he slipped a Pokèball of his belt.

"Go, Butterfree," he said, releasing the Pokèmon. It flew into the air. "Use Confusion to get back those nets, and grab the launcher while you're at it," Ash commanded. Butterfree easily brought all the nets and the launcher back into the village.

"Now use Confusion and send them flying," he continued. Butterfree's confusion grabbed Koffing, throwing it towards the criminals. It smashed into them, sending all three and Koffing flying.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they shouted.

Ash ran back into the village and assisted in untying the captured Pokèmon. Pidgeotto had by this point broken out and was also assisting in freeing the other Pokèmon. The nets had been rough on the injured Pokèmon, many injuries being worsened by the force. Ash offered to stay but Melanie insisted that he met up with Sabrina, promising to call Professor Oak if anything happened. Ash warned Melanie that the criminal trio might return, and she promised she would be careful. All of the village waved at Ash as he went on his way.

Ash's travels to Pewter were very easy. Butterfree and Pidgeot flew along with him, camping out at night. He missed Pikachu. His Pokènav+ marked him a couple of hours from the city if he simply following the road he was on. Meanwhile, Team Rocket was following close behind in a balloon shaped like a Meowth. Suddenly, a Spearow, not noticing the balloon, swooped down and crashed into the basket.

"Well what are you doing?" Meowth asked it, struggling not to eat the delicious looking bird. It squawked at Meowth for a few seconds, before Meowth turned to its partners in crime and said, "This bird is after the twerps! Apparently, it battled them at some river after that Pikachu attacked him! It got separated from its flock and so it followed the twerps for some payback!" Meowth explained.

"Well, well, well!" Jessie said, smiling. "We happen to be after that trainer, too! If we combine our efforts, we'll be sure to beat them!" she said, offering the Spearow a Pokèball. The Spearow pecked the button and was sent inside. The ball clicked shut. Jessie cackled. "Just you wait, twerps. We're coming for you," she said.


	6. Let's Rock

About two hours later, Ash finally arrived at the gate to Pewter City. Sabrina was waiting for him there, but the first person to notice him was definitely Pikachu, who immediately ran over to him and jumped onto his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy! I've missed you!" he said, "And I've got somebody to introduce to you! Go, Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto emerged from his Pokèball and introduced himself to Pikachu, who recognized him from their travels days before. Sabrina by this point had seen him and ran over to give him a friendly hug.

The friends made their way to the Pokèmon Center. Ash checked in and then made his way back to the training area, where he sent out Pikachu and Pidgeotto. "Alright Pidgeotto," Ash said, "Pikachu knows Iron Tail. I think with a little help he can explain to you how to use your Steel Wing attack. Might be useful for backup in Brock's gym. The two began work on the new attack. Ash quickly went in and reserved a time to battle the Pokèmon Gym.

About an hour later, Pidgeotto had succeeded in learning his new attack. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder, Pidgeotto took into the air, and Butterfree perched on top of his backpack. The four friends walked into the gym together while Sabrina took her spot in the bleachers. Already a few news teams had heard of Ash Ketchum's first gym challenge and gathered with cameras to see it take place. The referee took his place at the center and Ash took his place opposite to Brock.

"Alright! Geodude! Go!" Brock yelled, sending out a Geodude. Ash smiled.

"Pidgeotto! I choose you!" Ash shouted, throwing out his bird partner. "Now, use Steel Wing!" Pidgeotto quickly took off into the air and slammed into Geodude with wings made of iron. It was slammed into the wall and rolled down, close to being knocked out.

"Geodude! Use Stealth Rock!" Brock called. Geodude generated stones that crashed into various places throughout the field.

"Use Steel Wing again!" Ash called. Pidgeotto charged toward Geodude at full speed.

"Use Self-Destruct!" Brock called, knowing his Geodude was done for. Geodude closed its eyes and released an energy from his body, knocking out both Pidgeotto and Geodude himself.

"Nice move, Brock. Cutting your losses with Self-Destruct was risky... but it worked out in your favor. But we're not done yet. Go! Pikachu!" Ash called. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and onto the field. The rocks around the field floated into the air, slamming into Pikachu. Ash gasped. He had heard of Stealth Rock, but he had never seen it in action before. Pikachu had taken a lot of damage from that. Brock smiled.

"First time seeing Stealth Rock close up, huh?" he laughed, "well I've got some more surprises! Onix, come out, use Rock Polish, then follow it up with Rock Throw!"

Ash grimaced. He knew Onix was Brock's best Pokèmon, but he didn't know any of its strategies. He watched as it glowed, boosting its speed, then launched rocks into the air, landing all around the field. Ash frowned. Onix hadn't even aimed for Pikachu. Instead, the rocks had simply clogged the field with more debris.

"Alright Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash called.

"Dodge it!" Brock countered. Pikachu charged at the Rock Snake with his tail turned into a solid sheet of iron, but Onix quickly began maneuvering through the rocks, keeping Ash from landing a hit. Ash frowned. If he had Butterfree's Sleep Powder, he might have a chance, but his two Pokèmon had been chosen beforehand. He already had a sinking feeling that he had lost.

Brock smiled. He had trained this pair of Pokèmon many times as a gym leader, and had a multitude of strategies using them. Out of all of them, he loved his Rock Polish strategy. Any trainer could battle on a dirt stadium, but a rock-filled battlefield was much harder to maneuver on. He decided to finish it.

"Alright Onix, use Bulldoze!" he called. Onix grinned before slamming his tail into the ground, sending shockwaves that threw Pikachu into the air and into one of the rocks. Pikachu was unable to battle. Ash saw tears gather in its eyes as it remembered the first time it had lost in the very same gym. He ran across the field to Pikachu and picked him up.

"Hey, buddy. You did great. We'll find a way," he said, smiling. Pikachu smiled back.

Ash finally managed to leave the gym after pushing his way through a few press officials asking him what he planned on doing next. He decided that for his next gym battles, he would ask for complete privacy. This was getting annoying. That day, he let his Pokèmon work or relax as they saw fit. After a bit of flight training, Pidgeotto had decided to take a rest and clean the dust out of its feathers. Pikachu was hard at work, racing around the training track at maximum speed while still having its Iron Tail out, attempting to combine its Agility with its Iron Tail attack. Ash smiled. The rodent was more determined than he'd ever seen it. At about 10:30 that night, he walked over to where Pikachu had stopped for a rest and gave it a small treat he had bought from the Pokèmon Center's care department. Pikachu happily swallowed the treat, before realizing that there was a small amount of Sleep Powder stored inside. Pikachu's eyes drooped closed.

"Sorry, buddy, but I know you won't get any rest otherwise. We'll train more in the morning," Ash said.

Early the next morning, Ash was rudely awakened by his angry Pikachu's Thundershock. Ash apologized again, and soon the two of them made their way down to the training field. Ash placed cones around and began training Pikachu to use its speed attacks to run around them. Sabrina, who walked out of the Pokèmon Center after getting a good night's rest a few hours later, rolled her eyes.

"Well yeah, that'll train you to go around objects, but as hard as you try, do you think you're always going to be able to train for the exact circumstances of a battle?" she asked, "Do you think in the Pokémon League tournament they'll give you a rematch because you need time to train to beat an opponent's tactic?". Ash shook his head.

"Exactly. So I'm going to have to teach you how to adapt and think on your feet. I'm going to give you a battle situation and you have to come up with a way out in 5 seconds," Sabrina said.

"Pikachu's cornered, he's about to get hit with a Rock Throw attack."

"Iron Tail, jump and slice through the rock!"

"Good… How about… A Growlithe is using flamethrower on Butterfree."

"Fly out of the way?"

"Nowhere to go, still cornered..."

"Um… Confusion, redirect it!"

"Wrong, Confusion's power isn't strong enough to stop a Flamethrower attack. That's five seconds. We'll come back to this one."

After a couple of hours, Ash had begun skillfully responding to Sabrina's challenges without hesitation. Although he sometimes came up with plans that wouldn't actually work, Sabrina hadn't designed all of her scenarios with a specific solution in mind. She was testing his problem solving abilities, so it depended on his own battle style.

"You're surrounded with incoming Pokémon. Pidgeotto's already weakened."

"Use a Gust attack, try to create an opening by focusing on the weakest opponent."

"Perfect. And if that doesn't work?"

"Pidgeotto has the aerial advantage, so I can have it take off to lower the numbers and make the Gust attack stronger."

"Good. Now, a Wartortle is keeping Pikachu from getting in close with a Water Gun attack."

"Pikachu can use Thundershock, or ThunderPunch the water stream to send the power back at Wartortle."

"Good. How about Butterfree?"

"Take to the sky, try to hit it with Sleep Powder."

"That might work eventually, but Butterfree would be more likely to tire out first."

"Well as long as Butterfree stays out of range, he can wait for Wartortle to wear out."

"That's a good point. Pidgeotto is battling in a tight forest and doesn't have room to maneuver. A Growlithe is attacking with Ember."

"Steel Wing should be able to clear the trees away, right?"

"Right."

"So, if I have Pidgeotto use Steel Wing and follow up with Gust, I can create a wall of tinder to block the flames, and clear a path for Pidgeotto, right?"

Sabrina smiled.

"You're ready."

Ash walked into the gym and onto the platform. Less news officials were present for this battle as they didn't have as much interest in him after his previous loss. Only the gossip crew, trying to prove that Professor Oak was going senile in his older age, was still in the stands. Sabrina sat in the front row to watch the battle.

"Go! Pidgeotto!" Ash called.

"Geodude! Let's rock!" Brock shouted. The two trainers threw out their Pokèmon.

"Geodude, use Stealth Rock!" Brock commanded.

"You know what to do, Pidgeotto!" Ash called, "Steel Wing!" Pidgeotto's wings transformed into sheets of Steel, slamming into the Stealth Rocks and shattering them.

"Now use Gust!" Ash called. Pidgeotto used its wings to blow the rock dust away, scattering it towards Brock's side of the field. Brock smiled. This kid was learning quickly.

"Now use Steel Wing again!" Ash commanded. Pidgeotto flew up into the air and then swooped down at full speed, letting its wings turn into steel yet again. Brock smiled.

"Didn't you learn from last time, Ash? Use Self-Destruct, Geodude!" Brock called. Geodude began to glow with energy.

"Back now!" Ash called. Pidgeotto spun in the air, launching itself into the sky a safe distance from the explosion. Brock laughed.

"Nice move, kid. I didn't think you'd use my own counter against me. But you're still not going to beat my Onix!" He said, throwing out his star Pokèmon.

"Now use Bind!" He called. Onix quickly reached its tail up and caught Pidgeotto in its rocky grip. Pidgeotto, unable to escape, felt its wings pressed against it, preventing attacks. Ash watched Pidgeotto struggle before finally nodding in defeat.

"I forfeit Pidgeotto from this match. I have one Pokèmon left." Brock nodded and instructed Onix to release the flying type from the Bind attack. Ash recalled him into his Pokèball.

"Alright, Pikachu, we can still do this. You're up" Ash said as Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder and onto the battlefield. Brock was very confused. Nothing had changed since their last match yet he still called out the electric type Pikachu. True, Stealth Rock had been stopped by Ash's Steel Wing strategy, but he had simply recalled one of his Pokèmon when he saw it in pain. This trainer was definitely interesting.

"Alright Onix, use Rock Throw!" Brock yelled. Onix once again flung rocks all over the field, creating obstacles all around him.

"Now use Rock Polish!" he continued, using the exact same strategy that Ash had lost to before. But Ash had another trick up his sleeve.

"Use Agility!" he called. Pikachu glowed with blue energy before speeding up, allowing it to move faster around the battlefield. It skillfully dodged rocks as it made its way towards Onix. Brock frowned. "Finish it now, use Bulldoze!" he yelled. Ash crossed his fingers silently.

Brock smiled and unclipped a Pokéball from his belt. "Well, Ash. It's been fun, but you may need to catch a few more Pokémon before you challenge me agai-"

"Wait," Ash interrupted.

Pikachu flipped in the air, eyes wide open and determined. The Referee lowered his flag.

"Pikachu is still able to battle! Battle continues!"

Pikachu's intense training the previous evening, mixed with the absence of the Stealth Rocks had allowed it to withstand the attack. Sadly, that's where Ash's planning ran out. Due to its current trajectory, Pikachu was going to hit a wall and take serious damage. Ash quickly took note of his surroundings. "Alright Pikachu, use Iron Tail and embed it into the wall!" Ash called. Pikachu swung its tail around towards the wall and turned it into iron, allowing it to embed itself into the wall, absorbing the impact and keeping Pikachu off the ground, out of reach of Onix's Bulldoze. Brock smiled. The kid really had learned some new tricks.

"He's a sitting duck! Use Rock Throw!" he called.

"Use Agility, then launch yourself off the wall and aim for the rocks!" Ash responded. Pikachu glowed blue again, before launching itself off of the wall, jumping from one rock thrown by Onix to another, getting closer to his target every second.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Ash called. Pikachu's tail once again turned to iron and slammed into Onix. Onix fell to the ground, defeated. Ash smiled.

"And unless I'm mistaken, I think that means I win," he said. Brock grinned.

"Ash, your Pokèmon share a powerful bond with you already. You've learned how to use their strengths and fight their weaknesses. If I didn't know it was true, I would never have believed this is your first time battling. I don't think there has been anybody more deserving of my Boulder Badge," he said, walking to the center of the field, where the two trainers shook hands. The referee walked to the middle as well and handed Ash a grey pin. Ash happily pinned it onto the inside of his jacket.

"Thank you, Brock. That was a great battle," he said before exiting the gym. Sabrina met up with him at the Pokèmon Center and congratulated him on his victory.

"You did great!" she said, "and that was some quick thinking out there on the field!". The two of them packed up as Ash checked his Pokènav+ for the closest gym. He settled on traveling to Cerulean City through Mount Moon to battle the Cerulean Gym. The caves through Mount Moon weren't far from Pewter, so Ash decided to head there as fast as possible. The two trainers were about to leave when Ash heard from behind him.

"Ash! Wait!". It was Brock.

"I want to be a Pokèmon breeder, and I've thought by battling for a long time with the same Pokèmon I could develop close bonds with the Pokèmon I train. Our battle proved otherwise. You have the same kind of relationship with Pokèmon after training with them for a few days that I have been training to reach for years. I've stepped down as Gym Leader for the time being, left it to my little brother. I want to do some traveling and discover myself, but I thought that maybe by traveling with you, I might be able to learn a few things," he explained, "I promise I can help. I'm a great cook, so I can help make meals on the road if you need me to. I can also help teach you more about raising Pokèmon. It'll only be for a little, and if it doesn't work out I can always split off from you guys."

"I'm on board if you are, Sabrina," Ash said.

"I can't see what harm it'd do. I, for one, can't cook a thing. It'll be nice to have some well-cooked meals on nights when we have to camp out."

"Then this should work out well. Our first destination is Cerulean City to challenge that gym," Ash said. Brock nodded and shifted his backpack onto his back.

"Well then, let's get moving!" he said.


	7. The Poison Pin Pal

A few days later, the group was still on the path to Mount Moon. Ash took a break from their hike in a field to let Butterfree and Pidgeotto stretch their wings. It wasn't long until the two got into a friendly battle.

"Alright, you two, let's make this a fair fight." Ash instructed. They nodded.

"Butterfree, you aren't as agile as Pidgeotto, but you've got a wider spread of moves. Try to use whatever attacks you can to land a hit. Pidgeotto, use your speed to keep from getting hit. Your goal today is staying out of reach, not winning the battle." Both Pokémon nodded in agreement, nodded to each other, and lifted into the air. Ash stepped back and watched.

"Pikachu, if you want to get in on this, go ahead and work on your Agility attack some more. Try to move in between trees without losing too much speed. Keep moving, keep being unpredictable." Pikachu took off into the trees without a word.

Ash watched the battle with interest, occasionally calling out a move or advice. Butterfree took to its role like a professional, spinning in a circle and making an orb out of Sleep Powder to keep Pidgeotto away. When that didn't work, it tried using confusion, but Pidgeotto quickly used its Double Team to defend against that strategy. Ash was surprised when Butterfree launched an orb of energy at Pidgeotto, smacking through several duplicates and hitting the real Pidgeotto. Although it didn't seem to do much damage, Pidgeotto accepted that it had lost the training exercise, and landed next to Ash. Butterfree nodded and landed on top of Ash's backpack.

"That was a great battle, you two. Pidgeotto, you've got nothing to be ashamed of. I want both of you to rest tomorrow, you were really giving it your all out there." The two nodded and returned to their Pokéballs as Ash held them out.

"You know, for a minute there I thought I saw Butterfree using a new move," Brock said.

"I saw," Ash said, "If I'm right… I'm going to need to work on that next time we train."

"Well, it's getting dark. Let's make camp for the night," Sabrina suggested. The entire group agreed. While Brock got to work making a good meal, Sabrina set up the tents and Ash went into the woods to search for some wood to make a fire, having Pikachu come with him to defend against any wild Pokémon. Suddenly, he felt a wire trip him as a net rose from the ground, trapping him in a tree while Pikachu was thrown into the grasp of three figures wearing rubber suits who had, until that moment, been hiding behind a bush. Ash groaned.

"Not you three again!" he said.

"Prepare for trouble,"

"Make it double,"

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender Now or prepare to fight"  
"Meowth, that's right!"

Ash rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I know. You've told me that every time I've seen you," he said.

"Hey, don't insult the motto, twerp!" Jessie said.

"Just get over it, Jess. We just got his Pikachu and he's stuck in our net!" James said, laughing. Suddenly, a purple streak came out of the trees and slammed into the rope on top of Ash's current prison, severing it and setting Ash free. Ash looked as his rescuer landed in front of him. It was a Nidoran! Judging by the spikes running down its back and the coloring, Ash could tell that it was a male.

Jessie growled. "How dare that little Pokèmon? Now it's time for it to get a taste of my newest Pokèmon! Go! Spearow!" She said, throwing out a Pokèball that opened to reveal a very aggressive looking Tiny Bird Pokèmon. It glared at Ash. The Nidoran jumped into the air and hit Spearow with the same Peck attack it had used to free Ash. Jessie growled.

"Alright Spearow, use Peck!" she commanded. The bird swooped towards Nidoran, who jumped into the air and dodged the attack. Nidoran then opened its mouth and let loose a Supersonic attack, confusing the Spearow, who began attacking Meowth. It then hit both of the Pokèmon with a Water Pulse, followed closely by a Sucker Punch.

Ash blinked. This Nidoran was obviously still young but judging by its interesting moveset, it had been the offspring of a trainer's Pokèmon. He pulled out his Pokènav+ and opened the Pokèdex app. The data on Nidoran showed that it had no Pokèball tag. Ash sighed. Most likely a trainer's Pokèmon had bred with a female wild Pokèmon and the egg had hatched in the wild. The Pokèmon was definitely good in battle, already fighting off Jessie's Ekans with relative ease after knocking out both Spearow and Meowth.

"Now Ekans, use Dig!" Jessie called. Ekans quickly dug underground and popped up right below Nidoran, dealing major damage with the Super-Effective attack. It was obviously still weak and that attack had definitely injured it.

"I'll take it from here," Ash said as Jessie commanded Ekans to go in for another attack.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail to escape James' grip, then use Thundershock." Pikachu grinned, embarrassed that he hadn't thought of this before. He turned his tail to iron and slammed it into James' chest. The surprised criminal flinched in pain and loosened his grip, allowing Pikachu to escape, spin in the air, and hit the criminals and their Pokèmon with a Thundershock, the resulting explosion sending them flying into the sky. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The three shouted.

Ash scooped up the injured Nidoran and quickly took him and the wood he had collected back to the campsite, which by that point had been set up for ten minutes.

"Where have you been?" Sabrina asked sternly. "It's getting cold and we've had to use Brock's camp stove for heat! I almost went looking for you because I thought that you might have gotten lo- who is this?" she said, noticing Nidoran in Ash's arms.

"He defended me from those Team Rocket goons from the Pokèmon Center. Apparently they're out for revenge, now," Ash said. Brock quickly ran over and took the injured Pokèmon from Ash's arms.

"You two get to work building the fire. I'll care for this little fellow," he said. Ash shook his head. "Nidoran got hurt saving me. Now I have to be the one to help it," he said. Brock rolled his eyes. He had only known Ash for a few days but he was always so stubborn when it came to helping a Pokèmon in need.

"Fine," he said, "you can take care of it. I'll help Sabrina build the fire," Brock said.

While his two companions got to work on building their fire, Ash grabbed a small cot and lay Nidoran out on it. He then mashed up some Oran Berries and gave that to the Nidoran. It looked up at him and pawed at Ash's bag, reaching for the potions. "You okay if I use some Potions on you?" Ash asked, not wanting to anger another Poison Type. Nidoran nodded so Ash removed a couple potions and sprayed them on Nidoran.

"That was really brave of you, Nidoran," Ash said, "Stepping in and helping me like that. Pikachu could've been taken from me if it wasn't for you," Ash said. He had to admit to himself that when he had been trapped he had slightly panicked, not even thinking of a strategy to save Pikachu.

Nidoran smiled. Ash let it sleep in his tent while it recovered, leaving the door slightly open so that the Pokèmon could leave if he felt like it. As Ash fell asleep, he felt Nidoran climb onto his chest and curl up. He smiled. The next morning, Ash awoke as Nidoran climbed off of his chest. He looked at the time- it was only 3:30 in the morning! Nidoran looked at him and then left the tent, looking back a little ways after and sitting down. Ash realized it was waiting for him. He quickly changed his clothes, grabbed his bag, and rushed out the door.

He followed the Pokèmon through the woods until he came to a grove where a hurt Nidoqueen was lying, obviously in pain. The Nidoran looked at Ash helplessly.

"Is this your mother?" Ash asked. The Nidoran nodded.

"Well here, I have just the thing in my bag, if you'll let me," he said, removing a potion. The Nidoqueen said some faint words, and Nidoran turned to him and nodded. Ash smiled.

"Here you go," he said, spraying the potion onto Nidoqueen's wounds. Suddenly, the clearing erupted in smoke. Ash couldn't see a thing, but could hear laughter coming from above him. He recognized the voices.

"Prepare for trouble, your rescue days are through"

"To make it double, we'll take your mom too"

"To protect our plans from interference,"

"After the embarrassment that was our last appearance,"

"To denounce the evils of being a hero,"

"We took you down and now you're a zero,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender Now or prepare to fight"  
"Meowth, that's right!"

Ash quickly threw out a Pokèball and instructed Pidgeotto to blow away the smoke. When it cleared, he saw Nidoqueen and Nidoran trapped in clear boxes attached to the side of a hot-air balloon shaped like Meowth's head. Team Rocket looked down from the basket, laughing at him. Ash growled.

"Pidgeotto, pop that balloon with Steel Wing," he said.

"Ah, ah, ah," James said, "Do that and your little friends here go flying away right along with us."

Ash quickly called off the attack, realizing the truth in the criminal's statement.

"Now we're just going to fly away with these two and deliver them to the Boss as a little gift. Or maybe we'll catch them and force them to fight you next time we meet. Either way, it's ta-ta for now!" Jessie said, pressing buttons on a control panel inside the basket, activating fans on the side of the balloon that allowed them to fly away.

"No!" Ash called. He growled as he watched the balloon float away.

Ash took off after the balloon at full speed, with Pikachu clinging for dear life onto his trainer's shoulder. He had never seen Ash so angry. His eyes began to glow blue as an energy formed in his hands. Ash took off through the woods following the balloon as close as possible. Meanwhile, Team Rocket was already celebrating a successful victory. They had broken open a few bags of chips they had stored in their balloon and were chowing down. Nidoran was scared. His mom was still hurt and these two people had taken him from Ash. It shivered. A single image of the boy who had helped it ran through its head, and it simply hoped that he would find it.

Ash had lost the balloon. He had tripped over a root and after he had gotten back up the balloon was nowhere in sight. He closed his eyes and focused. He let the world fade away, hoping that he would be able to spot the lost Pokèmon. Through the trees, he could see Pokèmon everywhere. He could see the blue aura surrounding all of them. He scanned the skies for signs of the a Nidoqueen or a Nidoran but couldn't see a thing. Suddenly, he felt a mysterious presence, and saw a Pokèmon with a golden energy signature. It was a Nidoran. It was farther away than he'd ever been able to sense a Pokèmon's aura before, but he could tell for sure that it was his friend. He sprinted toward it.

After reaching a safe distance, Team Rocket touched down in a clearing and contacted the boss, giving them the information on the two Pokèmon they had found. Giovanni was actually slightly impressed. The Nidoran, although weak, had a few very rare moves that could come in handy for both his gym and his crime career with a bit of training. The Nidoqueen could also be of use, whether as a mother for more Pokémon or simply as an extra backup battler. He instructed the two to stay where they were while he sent a pickup crew to retrieve the Pokèmon. He hoped that the two could manage a simple task such as that, but given their record he wasn't positive.

Ash was crouched behind a wall of stones at the edge of the clearing, watching the two Rocket grunts finish their call with their beloved boss. He almost laughed when he saw their faces when the man said the words "Good Job.". They looked as if he had told them they were taking his place as leader. After about a half an hour, they finally grabbed some sleeping bags from their huge balloon and curled up to sleep. Ash snuck over and looked at the cage where Nidoran was stuck inside. It saw him and grinned.

"Nidoran! Nidoran!" it cried. Ash smiled.

"Don't worry, buddy. I'll get you out of there soon," he said. Suddenly, from before him, Ash heard a voice.

"Not, on your life, Twerp!" Meowth called as he suddenly jumped up and scratched him in the face, grabbing his Pokéball belt in the process.

Ash gasped. He was now without Pokèmon and facing a very angry Meowth. He stood up and braced himself for the volley of attacks he had a feeling he was about to be victim to.

"You can hurt me, Meowth," he said, "but you'll never make me give up!". Meowth laughed.

"It'll be fun sharpening my claws on you, kid!" he said, unleashing a Fury Swipes attack on Ash's face. Nidoran gasped and began slamming itself into the cage, trying to free itself.

"Don't bother, Nido-runt!" Meowth said, laughing, "That cage is specialized for your strength." Nidoran didn't listen and continued to slam itself into the cage while Meowth attacked Ash. Suddenly, a truck pulled up in front of the camp and two men jumped out. One of them pulled out a gun and pointed it at Ash.

"Take care of the twerp," Meowth said, "And you can add these Pokèmon to our deal." Meowth held up Ash's Pokèball Belt.

Nidoran gasped, looking between the gun and Ash. This trainer had seemed different from the moment Nidoran had first seen it. He'd watched from a distance as Ash had trained, seen the care he felt for his Pokémon. When Ash had been in trouble, he knew he had to help. Ash had helped him, then helped his mom. Now, these people were holding him captive and threatening his new friend. He yelled in anger before glowing white. All faces turned towards Nidoran as it grew larger, the spikes on its head and back, its legs, and its fangs all grew larger as it felt newfound strength it had never felt before. Nidoran had evolved.

"Nidorino!" It called. Nidorino slammed into the cage and it shattered. While all faces were turned, Ash slammed his fist into one of the Rocket Grunts' face, grabbing the gun and shooting open Nidoqueen's cage. Nidoqueen stepped out and nodded in appreciation. The grunts quickly countered, grabbing their Pokèballs and calling out a Raticate and a Machoke. Pidgeotto suddenly appeared from his Pokèball and landed next to Ash, giving him two Pokèmon to fight with against the grunts' two Pokèmon. He smiled. "Well then, I guess it's a fair fight now," he said.

"Pidgeotto! Use Gust on that Machoke!" Ash yelled, hoping to get at least one of the Pokèmon out of the way quickly and keep Pidgeotto from overexerting itself after the last training exercise. The grunt commanding Machoke grinned.

"Machoke, Smackdown!" he shouted. Machoke jumped into the air and slammed itself into Pidgeotto, flinging him into the ground. Ash gasped. That was a rock-type move. He had to be careful.

"Alright Nidorino use Supersonic!" He called. Nidorino quickly shot a high-pitched wave of sound at Machoke, confusing him, causing him to attack the other grunt's Raticate. Ash smiled. "Whoops," he said. The grunt growled.

"Raticate! Use Hyper Beam on that useless Machoke!" he called. Raticate opened its mouth and fired the beam at its own partner, defeating it.

Ash smirked. "Shouldn't have used that attack, buddy. Not only did you knock out your teammate, but you immobilized yourself," he said. "Now Nidorino use Water Pulse! Pidgeotto use Gust!" he said. The two Pokèmon combined their attacks, sending the immobilized Raticate slamming into the grunts. "Now use Whirlwind!" Ash called. Pidgeotto blew its wings at the Team Rocket grunts as well as Jessie and James, blowing all four of them away as their Pokémon were forced back into their Pokéballs. Ash smiled.

"Thank you for helping me, Nidorino. Now Nidoqueen is okay and the two of you can go home. Nidorino instead walked up to Ash and nudged the Pokèball belt. Ash smiled even wider. "Do you want to come with me?" he asked. Nidorino nodded. Ash removed a Pokèball from his belt, but Nidorino shook his head. "Do you want to battle first?" Ash asked. Nidorino nodded its head, getting into a battle stance.

Ash smiled.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!" Ash commanded, "keep your distance." Pikachu nodded and launched the attack. Nidorino responded by launching a Supersonic attack.

"Cover your ears, Pikachu!" Ash called. Pikachu nodded and held its paws over its ears. The attack hit, but Pikachu was able to quickly shake off its effects.

"Agility!"

Pikachu glowed blue and increased its speed, keeping Nidorino from keeping track of its movements. Nidorino prepped a blue orb in its mouth, readying a Water Pulse.

"Use ThunderPunch!"

Pikachu charged forward and slammed its electrically charged paw into the Water Pulse. The ball exploded and the shock hit Nidorino, throwing it backward. Ash grabbed a Pokéball and threw it. Nidorino was sucked inside. The ball shook several times as Nidorino struggled before accepting the defeat and letting the ball click shut.

Ash made his way back to the campsite and was able to sleep for the rest of the night. The next morning, he told his two traveling companions what happened, and they welcomed Nidorino to the team. Ash smiled. He had four Pokèmon and one badge, and he had barely been on his journey for a few weeks. He was sure he could catch up with Kyle, and when he did… the kid had better watch out…


	8. Clefairy and the Moon Stone

The next day, Sabrina, Brock and Ash arrived at Mount Moon. Before entering, Ash noticed a man getting attacked by Zubat. After defeating them, Brock caught one. The man, identifying himself as Seymour the scientist, joined with the group as protection getting through Mount Moon.

"Where did all these lights come from?" Ash asked, noting that they seemed to have a negative effect on the Pokèmon.

"I don't know," Seymour said, "Mysterious people came in the night, and strung this old cave full of lights!" Ash rolled his eyes. The man had been rhyming everything since he had met them. It almost reminded him of Team Rocket's annoying motto, except constant.

"Well why would somebody do that? It's obviously disturbing the Pokèmon!" Brock asked. "They're probably after the Moon Stone! They strung the lights so they could search alone!" Seymour responded.

"Of course! I've heard rumors that there are Moon Stones- meteorites that fell from space and boost Pokèmon's powers around here!" Sabrina said.

Seymour nodded. "That is correct, though may I interject, you use the word fall but they didn't at all," he said, "The Moon Stones in truth are the ships of Clefairy- they used them at first simply to carry them from their home on the moon to here- hey, is that a balloon?" Ash gasped. Sitting in an open cavern was none other than Team Rocket's deflated Meowth balloon.

"But if that's here…" Ash said. Suddenly three faces appeared from behind a rock.

"Prepare for trouble,"

"Make it double,"

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight"  
"Meowth, that's right!"

Ash sighed. "Seriously with that stupid motto? I've heard it over and over again and it isn't getting any better. We've got enough annoying rhymes to deal with thanks to Seymour over there," he said.

"You're just jealous that we won't let you join us," Jessie mocked. Ash rolled his eyes.

"As if that'd ever happen!" he responded, "Go, Butterfree!". Jessie and James simply laughed.

The two trainers called out their Pokémon's names, throwing out two Pokèballs. One opened to reveal Jessie's Spearow, while the other opened to reveal the Machoke Ash had fought the day before.

"After we did such a good job getting those Pokémon, they gave it to us even though you messed it up!" James said. Ash chuckled. More likely, it had been left behind by the guards just as they had disposed of it in the battle.

Sabrina stepped forward. "Two on two doesn't seem fair! Go, Abra!" She said, throwing out her partner.

"Use Thunderpunch on that Spearow!" She commanded.

"Machoke, block it with Fire Punch!" James said. Machoke grinned and lit its fist on fire, intersecting Abra's Thunder Punch.

"Teleport!" Sabrina called. Abra Teleported, with Machoke in tow, then reappeared several feet in the air. It landed gracefully as Machoke crashed to the ground on top of Team Rocket's balloon. Sabrina smiled.

Ash laughed. "Alright, now I'll take care of Spearow! Butterfree! Return!" He called, "Pidgeotto! I choose you!" The bird Pokèmon appeared on the field and locked eyes with its opponent. Both it and Spearow nodded and waited for their trainer's direction.

"Steel Wing!" Ash called.

"Peck!" Jessie countered.

The two bird Pokémon fiercely collided as their attacks met, sending off a wave of energy that almost blew Ash's hat off his head. He'd never seen Pidgeotto this fierce, even in the gym battle against Brock.

"Get some distance! Use Gust!" Ash suggested. Pidgeotto flapped its wings with power and threw Spearow backward.

"Fury Attack!" Jessie commanded. Spearow tucked its wings together and flew through the wind, slamming into Pidgeotto with its beak, getting several hits off before Pidgeotto spun in the air, using Steel Wing without Ash commanding it, smacking Spearow to the ground. Jessie frowned and returned Spearow.

"Pikachu," Ash called.

"Abra!" Sabrina called.

"Use Thunderpunch, full power!" They yelled together. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and into the air. Abra started running at the duo. Both charged their fists into bursts of electricity. Abra's slammed into Jessie's stomach, while Pikachu's hit James in the chest. The duo was sent flying into the air.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The two yelled yelled.

"Thanks for the help, Sabrina" Ash said, returning Pidgeotto to its Pokèball after healing its injuries.

"No problem. Those goons needed to learn a lesson," she replied.

"Can somebody fill me in?" Brock asked, "I mean I've heard you mention a Team Rocket before, but I've never met them." Ash realized that he had forgotten to explain Team Rocket to Brock, and explained the various encounters he and to a lesser extent Sabrina had had with the villainous duo.

"Excuse me please because I think you forgot, there was a Meowth with the two trainers you fought," Seymour said, and Ash realized that Meowth had disappeared without getting sent flying!

He quickly closed his eyes and let the world fade away, the bright lights keeping all Pokèmon away made the area around mostly quiet.

"What are you doing, Ash?" Brock asked.

"Quiet! He's able to sense Pokèmon's auras and he's looking for Meowth, but he needs to focus," Sabrina explained quietly. Ash, grateful for Sabrina's help, quickly began sorting through the cave Pokèmon, trying to find Meowth. He quickly spotted it, with a Clefairy close by!

"We've got to hurry!" Ash said, opening his eyes and heading down the tunnel he had sensed Meowth from, "He's got a Clefairy cornered, probably looking for the Moon Stone!" Ash said. All three of his companions gasped before quickly following after him.

They followed through a path of winding tunnels until they reached a dead end. "But I'm sure this is where they were!" Ash said, looking around in confusion.

"I'll admit, I don't know how this got here," Brock said, "But I know rocks, and this is no regular rock." Brock pulled a stalagmite and the top flipped to the side, revealing a button. Ash pressed the button and a chamber opened up, where a group of Clefairy were trying to defend a large black stone from Meowth.

"Quick! Nidorino! Stop him!" Ash called, sending out his newest capture. Nidorino obviously recognized Meowth, and he wasn't happy.

"Oh, great! Now the Twerp's got that Nidorino full-time!" Meowth said, obviously not happy with this development.

"Nidorino! Use Water Pulse!" Ash called. He couldn't risk his usual strategy of confusing the opponent, just in case Meowth started attacking the Clefairy. Nidorino quickly shot a ball of water out of its mouth at Meowth, who quickly dodged and used Fury Swipes, slamming Nidorino into the Moon Stone, causing a shard to fall off. Nidorino jumped into the air, launching a powerful beam of water at Meowth, slamming him into a wall. Ash gasped.

"No way! That wasn't Water Pulse… Nidorino! You learned Surf!" Suddenly, Meowth charged forward. He hated getting wet! The Clefairy stepped forward and started waving their hands back and forth.

"That's Metronome, isn't it?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Brock said, "It's amazing!" The hands of Clefairy glowed as all of them suddenly launched different attacks. One used Splash, simply jumping up and down. Another used Flame Charge, Hitting Meowth with a strong attack. Another used Growl, which did basically nothing. The fourth used Dig, and dug into the ground. The final Clefairy used a move Ash didn't recognize. Its body glowed blue and its eyes glowed orange before forming a blue ball between its hands and shooting a beam of power that seemed to slow down time before hitting Meowth. Meowth disappeared. Ash quickly pulled out his Pokènav+ and activated the Pokèdex app, scanning the move. No identification appeared. He figured it must be a rather rare move if even the Pokédex couldn't identify it. The beam continued its course and hit the Moon Stone, shattering it into small pieces. Ash gasped as the pieces landed on the Clefairy, evolving them into Clefable.

"The Clefairy evolved!" Ash said in shock, "That's amazing!" The rest of the group agreed with him. Even Seymour seemed too in shock to rhyme his words, simply saying "Yes.". After leaving the cave and apologizing to the Clefable for any trouble they caused, Ash, Brock, and Sabrina learned that Seymour had decided to stay in the cave to protect the Pokèmon and study them. Ash congratulated his new friend on finding his own place in the world, and told him that he was sure that he would do well. One of the Clefable stepped forward and handed the shard of the Moon Stone that Nidorino had broken off to Ash.

"Of course," Ash said. "Nidorino can evolve with the Moon Stone as well. I'll hold onto this. Nidorino just evolved in the first place. Besides, stone-based evolution tends to slow a Pokémon's physical growth afterward. I don't want to do that yet."

On his way out of the cave, Ash stopped at a sign and looked at it.

"Cerulean City ahead. Home of the Cerulean Gym" was written. In dull, smudged marker underneath the sign was written.

"Gary was Here, Ash is a loser!". Ash rolled his eyes. Even though Ash hadn't gone on a journey, Gary still insisted on insulting him. This had obviously been written when Gary was going on his journey five years ago. He vowed that if he ever had a chance to battle his old childhood enemy, he would take him down.

"Cerulean isn't far from here, Ash," Brock said, "You ready?" Ash grinned.

"You bet."

 **A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks for reading, I've seen a lot of follows and favorites since I started updating this again, I really appreciate it! I'm making a serious effort to release an episode every day, I have a fully written series of episodes up until Ash's battle with Lt. Surge that just need to be edited a bit before I release them. Feel free to leave a review if you have any suggestions, critique, et cetera. Thank you! :)**


	9. A Lakeside Skirmish

Ash and his friends made their way to the Pokèmon Center, where they checked in, getting three rooms. Ash headed out to a pond a little way from town, borrowing a fishing rod from the center to go fishing. Brock quietly made his way to the gym and registered Ash for a private match. Sabrina said that she had other things to do and had locked herself in her room, promising to be out in time for Ash's match. While at the lake, Ash had Butterfree focus on the attack it had developed outside Mount Moon. Soon, it had learned how to generate a powerful Energy Ball attack. Meanwhile, Pidgeotto learned how to fly fast enough to duplicate images of itself- Double Team, and Pikachu grew strong enough to replace its ThunderShock with Electro Ball. Ash smirked.

"Whoever this Cerulean Gym Leader is, He's going down," he said. Suddenly, a girl with orange hair walked over to him.

"You're battling the Cerulean Gym? I thought I recognized you, you're Ash Ketchum! Well don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I warn you, you're never going to beat the leader." She said.

"Is that so?" Ash said, "and why's that?"

"Because I doubt you could even beat me," she said, smiling to herself.

"Care to back that up?"

"Bring it."

Ash smiled. "Just be ready to lose," he said, nodding at Pikachu to join the fight.

"Yeah. Right," she said, "Wooper, I choose you." The girl threw a Pokèball out onto a lily pad in the lake, which opened to reveal a Wooper. Ash pulled out his Pokènav+ and activated the Pokédex feature. These Pokèmon didn't usually show up in Kanto.

"Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. Though they prefer to live in cold water, these appealing Pokémon forage for food on land. They are kept warm by a layer of insulating body fluid," it reported.

"Interesting," Ash muttered to himself, "Water and Ground type, but I've already selected Pikachu. Right then, Pikachu use Quick Attack!" Pikachu ran at top speed, jumping from tree to tree in order to confuse Wooper.

"Don't get confused, Wooper! Use Mud Bomb!" The girl called. Wooper shot a blast of mud, which exploded on impact with one of the trees, sending Pikachu flying into the water.

"Pikachu, get out!" Ash called. Pikachu quickly swam to a small island, got onto it, and jumped back to shore.

"Now! Use Iron Tail!" Ash called. Pikachu locked onto Wooper and jumped, spinning through the air and slamming into Wooper, sending it flying into a tree. It fell to its ground, unable to battle. Ash cheered.

"Yes!" he called, "We did it, Pikachu!". Suddenly, the water began to swirl as, farther into the pond, a Gyarados erupted out of the water, shooting a Dragon Rage at Pikachu, sending him flying into the air. Pikachu slammed into a rocky beach, wincing in pain.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried, seeing the incredible power difference, "Quick! Use Electro Ball!" Pikachu got up, winced, and launched itself into the air, launching an orb of electricity at Gyarados, who launched a powerful Hyper Beam, completely dissipating the Electro Ball and hitting Pikachu, slamming him once again into the rocky beach.

"Pikachu!" Ash called, "Now's your chance! Quick! Use Thunderpunch!" Pikachu forced itself to its feet and jumped towards the Gyarados, who was unable to move due to the Hyper Beam. He slammed his fist, charged with electricity, into the Gyarados' eye, sending it plunging into the lake. Pikachu then fainted in the middle of the lake. Ash gasped.

"Pidgeotto! Grab Pikachu!" he called, throwing out Pidgeotto. It quickly grabbed Pikachu and flew back over to Ash, who returned Pidgeotto and took off back towards town before the Gyarados could return.

As soon as he got back to the city, Ash ran into the center and up to Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy! I was battling by the lake when a Gyarados attacked me!" Ash said. Nurse Joy looked at Pikachu.

"Oh, my. Well I'm afraid this poor thing took massive damage defending you. It'll have to stay here and recover for now. Ash gasped.

"But I have a gym battle today!" he complained.

"I'm sorry," Nurse Joy said, "but you'll have to manage the gym battle without Pikachu. There's no way he'll be able to battle in time." Ash sighed.

"Well then, guess I'd better come up with a Plan B," he said.

 **A/N: Short chapter, I know, but on the bright side, Ash battles Misty in the next chapter! Please, guys, leave some reviews, they make me happy and let me know what things you like and what things you don't! Maybe they'll make me happy enough to release chapter 10 early ;)**


	10. The Second Battle

A few hours later, Ash walked into the Cerulean gym. Brock had stayed at the Pokèmon Center to look after Pikachu and flirt with Nurse Joy, but Sabrina had already made her way to the stands to watch the match. When Ash walked onto the field, he immediately noticed the difference between Brock's field and this gym leader. Brock's had simply been rocky earth, while this field was made up of several islands protruding from a pool. There were two podiums for the trainers to stand, and an elevating room where the referee could watch from, allowing him to see on the islands and under the water. Ash stepped up to his podium and gasped. Standing at the gym leader's podium was the girl from the pond.

"You?" Ash said.

"Yeah, I'm the Gym Leader. I wanted to check out if you were worth my time. Sorry about the whole Gyarados thing, I took care of it after you left, but you had that thing in a frenzy. It took me forever to calm it down," she said.

"For your information, that Gyarados injured my Pikachu, and it's still at the Pokèmon Center recovering!" Ash shouted angrily.

"Look, I'm sorry for what happened to your Pikachu, and I'll make it up to you for this battle by not using Wooper. So this will be a two-on-two battle. Got that ref? We're using section 26, clause 7." she said. The referee, although confused, nodded.

"Okay then. This will be a two-on-two battle between the gym leader Misty Waterflower and the challenger…" The referee said, then looked at Ash.

"Ash Ketchum. From Pallet Town," Ash said. The referee nodded and stepped into his chamber.

"Battle begin!" he yelled over the speakers. Misty grinned.

"You may have beaten Wooper at the lake, but I'm not done yet!" she said, "go, Starmie!" Ash grimaced. He had heard about Starmie's Ice Beam attack from a trainer on the other side of Mount Moon, and was not looking forward to trying to overpower it without Pikachu's Electro Ball.

"Go, Butterfree!" He called. He threw out the Butterfly Pokèmon's Pokèball. Butterfree appeared and soared into the air. Now, use Energy Ball! Ash called.

"Ice Beam! Misty countered. Both Pokèmon launched their attacks, causing a large explosion as the Ice Beam broke through the Energy Ball and struck Butterfree. Butterfree was thrown into the water, and just barely managed to crawl out. Its wings were soaked.

"Butterfree! Return!" Ash called. Butterfree was sucked back into its Pokèball. Ash held it in front of him.

"Dry your wings. I'll need you again," he said before returning it to his belt.

Ash closed his eyes and considered his options. He could feel his Pokèmon's hope and determination, and could even feel Pikachu's sorrow for his absence. He grabbed a Pokèball off of his Belt.

"It's up to you," Ash said, throwing the Pokèball onto the battlefield, "Go, Nidorino!". In a flash of light, Nidorino appeared on the battlefield. Misty laughed.

"Really? Do you not know that my Starmie is a Psychic type? It'll make quick work of a Poison Type like Nidorino," she said. Ash rolled his eyes.

"You've got this, Nidorino, wait for my call!" Ash said. Nidorino nodded. Sabrina sat up in the stands, watching the battle. She wondered what Ash had planned.

"Finish this quickly, Starmie! Use Psychic!"

Nidorino rose into the air, surrounded by a pink aura, and was thrown towards a wall. Ash simply stood there, his eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly, his eyelids flew open.

"Now, Nidorino! Jump off the wall and use Sucker Punch!" he shouted. Nidorino grinned and flipped, launching itself off of the wall, gaining enough speed to break free of the Psychic attack and hit Starmie with the powerful Dark Type attack. Starmie was thrown against the back wall.

"Quick, follow up with Supersonic!" Ash called. Nidorino shot a high-pitched wave of sound at Starmie, confusing it. Starmie began attacking at random, slamming into platforms on the watery field, hurting itself in the process.

"Dive into the water and recover!" Misty ordered. Starmie focused for a few seconds and managed to get itself in the water, where it simply stayed still until its confusion wore off. Ash sighed. Nidorino had no way to reach Starmie.

"Come on, Ash," He muttered to himself, "think.". Suddenly, He gasped. "That's it!" He yelled, "Nidorino! Use Surf!". Nidorino grinned and roared, sending the calm pool waters into a frenzy of waves around him. Starmie was thrown out of the water.

"Use Ice Beam!" Misty called. Starmie shot its Ice Beam at the water, creating a sheet of ice over the water and stopping Nidorino's attack. Ash grinned.

"I'm just getting started, Misty!", he said, "Surf, full power!". The water spiraled out of control underneath the ice, smashing it and slamming the ice and the water into Starmie, knocking it out. Misty smiled.

"Go Gyarados!" she said. Ash gasped as a Gyarados appeared on the field and gave him a powerful glare. On its eye was a scar, right where Pikachu had hit the Gyarados from the lake.

"You caught it? I refuse to battle this thing, it injured my Pokémon, not to mention its power level must be far above the limit compared to my own!" Ash said. Misty grinned.

"I thought you might say that, but a pre-battle clause is in effect. The rules state that if a gym leader has previously battled the challenger outside of the gym, leading to a Pokemon being unable to recover in time for the battle, the battle can be considered a part of the official Gym Battle, and any Pokemon knocked out cannot be used, as well as making any Pokemon who participated officially locked into the 3-Pokémon Limit. I didn't get the chance to heal Gyarados, and you agreed that your battle against my Pokémon at the lake counted, it is officially part of the Gym Battle," Misty said, her voice changing to one of mocking. She had gotten exactly what she wanted.

Ash growled. Misty had planned for this all along! Gyarados had been her Pokémon all along, lying in wait for Ash to defeat Wooper. Then, when he came to battle the gym, she had gotten him to agree to something that allowed her to send in an overpowered Gyarados, allowing her to win the battle!

In the stands, Sabrina glared at the gym leader. She'd heard rumors, and had been worried that she would try something tricky in the gym battle, but even she hadn't realized that the pre-battle clause would allow a gym leader to circumvent the rules that limited a gym leader to using Pokémon that matched their challenger's in power.

"This isn't a fair battle, Misty," he said, "this isn't how a gym leader should battle."

Misty stopped for a second, taken aback by Ash's accusation. She shook her head and returned her focus to the task at hand.

"Use Hyper Beam!" she called. Gyarados growled, and shot a Hydro Pump at Nidorino instead. It fell to the ground, unable to battle.

Misty frowned. "I said Hyper Beam, not Hydro Pump!" She said. Gyarados just growled and rolled its eyes. Ash grinned. He might not have the advantage in power, but he had an idea. He could still win it.

"Go, Butterfree!" he yelled as he threw the Butterfly Pokemon's Pokéball. Butterfree burst into the air and landed in front of Ash. Gyarados growled at Butterfree, before shooting a Dragon Pulse at it.

"Quick, Butterfree, use Energy Ball on the ground!" Ash commanded. Butterfree followed directions and was launched into the air, away from the attack. "Now use Energy Ball on Gyarados! Keep your distance!" He continued. Butterfree began flying around Gyarados, using its small size to maneuver around the Gym at high speed while shooting Energy Ball attacks at it.

Although the attacks didn't do much, they were like Combee stings, adding up into slow damage, and tons of rage. With every dodge, Gyarados was getting more and more aggravated, and that was exactly what Ash wanted.

"Is that all you've got, Gyarados?" Ash called. Gyarados growled. "Go on, attack Butterfree with all your power!" Ash taunted. Gyarados growled even louder and shot a Hyper Beam at Butterfree. Ash grinned.

"Now, Butterfree! Use Confusion to pick up the ice, use it as a mirror!" he commanded. Butterfree quickly obeyed, lifting the crystal-clear ice in front of it. Gyarados' Hyper Beam hit the Ice and was reflected into a wall. As the ice began to crack, Butterfree moved the ice in order to hit Gyarados, sending it flying into the wall, knocked out.

"Gyarados is unable to battle! With that, the winner is Butterfree!" the referee announced from the ref's box.

"I wish I could say that was a good battle, Misty, but it wasn't." Ash said. Misty frowned and simply threw the Cascade Badge to him.

"Get out," she said. Ash walked out of the door to the gym.

"How can somebody like her…" he muttered, "possibly be a gym leader?" By this point, Sabrina was beside him.

"Yeah, I heard about her. She went on a journey to become the best and while she was gone the gym was taken by another trainer. She trained for three years before she finally managed to win it back. By then, she wasn't the same friendly trainer she was when she left," She said. Ash frowned. It made him feel kind of bad for her, but she still had used unfair tactics to try to win. He shook his head.

"Let's go check on Pikachu," he said.

After turning in Nidorino and Butterfree to Chansey for healing, Ash was escorted into a care room, where Pikachu was lying in a bed, awake but obviously very tired.

"The injuries were easy to heal, but Pikachu's suffering from energy exhaustion. It'll take a day or two for it to recover, so it'll need to stay inside a Pokéball for a while." Nurse Joy explained. Ash frowned.

"I was hoping to get out of here as soon as possible," Ash said, "but Pikachu refuses to go into his Pokèball, so we'll have to stay here." Brock and Sabrina nodded.

"Anything to do around here?" Ash asked Brock.

"Well, trainers tend to head north when they stay here. The route right before you reach the bridge is a great training spot, filled with both wild Pokémon and with other trainers," he suggested, "not to mention that the owner of the land, Bill, imports rare foreign Pokemon for analysis, so it's full of rare ones to train against.

"Sounds good," Ash replied, "Next stop: North Cerulean!"

As the three trainers left for their next adventure, Misty watched them leave from the doors to her gym. She considered following them, then shook her head and turned around, returning to her dressing room, borrowed from the water theater next door. She changed out of her swimsuit and back into a yellow dress and white jacket. She sat down at her gym log and filled out the loss to Ash, noting sadly that he was only the third person to challenge the gym in the past two months. Business had been down since she'd gotten her gym back. One hadn't returned after losing to her trick, one had battled her in a rematch and beaten her in a fair competition, and now Ash had beaten her on the first try. If she could only get 4 battles in 2 months, eventually either the city board or the Pokémon Leauge would take notice. She reached into her jacket's pocket and pulled out a locket, staring at it.

"I wish I could say that was a good battle... but it wasn't" Ash's voice echoed in her head. Who was this trainer to tell _her_ how to run a Pokèmon gym? She sat down in a chair in the corner and stared at the locket in her hand. She ran her thumb across the carving on the silver door: a mermaid holding a water lily.

"What do I do, mom?" She asked, slipping the locket back into her pocket as she felt her eyes start to sting.

"What do I do?"


	11. Bring on the Spring

"Good battle," Ash said, shaking the hand of another trainer, "Pidgeotto, return." The trainer nodded.

"I had a good time," he said before returning his Sunkern. Ash smiled. The boy had been his third win in a row since entering North Cerulean. He met back up with Sabrina at a clearing they had found earlier for lunch. Brock had packed lunch before they had left. They sat down and ate while discussing their battles. Sabrina had already beaten seven opponents with only her Abra!

"Impressive," Ash said, "But I'm not letting you get ahead of me for long." he said. She smiled.

"You're on," she said. She reached for her final sandwich, but it was missing. They looked around the clearing for a few seconds, before seeing a small grey Pokémon with pink cheeks and a pink pearl on its forehead.

"It's a Spoink!" Ash said.

Ash pulled out his Pokénav and set it to Pokédex mode.

"Spoink doesn't appear in Kanto often. I'm going to record it." he said. He pointed it at Spoink and the screen lit up. "Spoink- the Bounce Pokémon. Spoink manipulates psychic power at will. It doesn't stop bouncing even when it is asleep. It loves eating mushrooms that grow underground." it reported. Sabrina grinned.

"That's a rare Psychic type to see around here," she said, pulling out a Pokèball, "I'm gonna catch it!"

"Wait," Ash said, noticing a large cut running down its paw, "It's hurt. Let's wait for Brock to get back". A few minutes later, Spoink was nervously munching on the stolen sandwich while Brock looked over the wound.

"It looks like the little guy was grabbed by a bird Pokèmon. The scratch is from a talon. I can patch it up, but then we should get it home," he said.

"Home?" Ash asked.

"Bill's ranch. I told you, he imported foreign Pokèmon for research. That's where this little guy most likely came from," Brock explained. Sabrina frowned. Ash could tell that she had had her heart set on catching Spoink. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know, but we can find some way to go to Hoenn and find one," he said, "what if it was your Abra. Wouldn't you want it back?" Sabrina nodded.

"All right," she said, "let's go."

Spoink hopped along with Brock, whom it had begun to trust after having its arm fixed. It was still unable to exert itself, but if it wanted to, it could use a small attack. Suddenly, Ash gasped as the ground fell out from beneath him and Brock, sending them falling into a pit trap.

Spoink jumped up and down urgently while Sabrina reached her arm into the pit. "Grab on!" she called. The two reached up but couldn't quite reach her hand. Suddenly, out of the trees, three figures emerged.

"Prepare for trouble,"

"Make it double,"

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender Now or prepare to fight"  
"Meowth, that's right!"

"Team Rocket," Sabrina muttered angrily.

"Wait," Ash said from in the pit, "Meowth? He disappeared last time we met up!". Meowth laughed, "Don't ask me, twerp! I randomly woke up and three days had passed!" he said. Ash quietly noted that on the data on the mysterious move in Pokèdex.

"Go! Machoke!" James yelled, throwing out the Superpower Pokèmon.

"Don't lose that pig again, Spearow!" Jessie yelled, summoning the Tiny Bird. The two Pokèmon dove at Sabrina.

"Go, Abra!" Sabrina called.

"Go, Pidgeotto!" Ash yelled from the pit. The two bird Pokemon glared at each other. Pidgeotto was unable to get orders from Ash with him stuck in the pit, so it flew into the air on its own, using Double Team to create several copies of itself. Spearow flew into the sky in pursuit, then used Fury Attack to slice through the line of Pidgeottos, eventually hitting its target. Pidgeotto quickly adjusted its flight path by spinning in the air, wrapping its wings around itself and using Steel Wing to form a shield. Spearow stopped using the attack and let Pidgeotto tumble toward the ground, forcing it to spread its wings at the last minute or hit the ground. Spearow chose this moment to strike with a Peck, causing Pidgeotto to clip the ground, rolling to a standstill.

"Machoke, use Fire Punch!" James called.

"Counter with Thunderpunch!" Sabrina called. The two attacks met, sending both Pokémon flying. Abra slammed into Spoink, sending him tumbling to the end of a nearby cliff. Sabrina ran over and grabbed both of the Psychic types, but the ground crumbled, sending trainer and Pokémon down into the fast running river below.

"We've got to get that stupid pig back!" Jessie called. Spearow, about to deliver what would quite possibly be a finishing blow, gave a cry of anger as it was returned to its Pokèball. James looked into the pit at Ash and Brock.

"Wait, where's the Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pikachu isn't with me, you idiots!" Ash yelled from the hole, "now can you get me out?" James returned Machoke to his Pokéball and the two trainers ran back into the trees. A few seconds later, their Meowth shaped Balloon rose from the trees and into the air.

Sabrina held her breath and kept herself tucked into a ball. Her hands were kept wrapped around Abra and Spoink until they suddenly flashed onto land.

"Thanks, Abra," Sabrina said, patting the Pokémon on the head, "Now let's get back to Ash and Brock." Abra focused for a few seconds, but nothing happened.

"Oh, no," Sabrina gasped, "You've used up all your Teleport energy. Well then, we'll have to go on foot. The best location to go, though, would be Bill's home. Ash will think to meet us there. I know it," she said. Spoink was nervously bouncing in the shallow river, using Splash attack.

"Come on, Spoink," Sabrina called. Spoink hopped over to Sabrina, staying four feet or so behind her.

"You still don't trust me," Sabrina sighed. The three walked along the riverbank. Suddenly, a group of Goldeen jumped into the air, hitting them with a barrage of Peck attacks.

"Oh, great. We're in Goldeen territory!" Sabrina sighed.

"Abra! Use Thunderpunch!" she called. Abra nodded and launched itself into the air. Sadly, these Pokémon worked together in schools, attacking Abra in coordinated patterns that made it impossible to hit them all at once.

"Abra, quick, run!" Sabrina shouted, but Abra got hit. Sabrina cried out, scared for her partner. She tried to return it to its Pokéball, but Abra simply dodged the beam, refusing to abandon its trainer. Spoink looked at the friends and saw their connection. It closed its eyes, focusing on generating a ball of energy between its small arms. It ached slightly as its arm was still healing, but it managed to launch a Psywave at the group of Goldeen

The Goldeen launched a barrage of Supersonic attacks at Spoink, who closed its eyes and concentrated, creating a strange energy around it, shooting the Supersonic attacks back at Goldeen, confusing them all and causing them to attack each other and break formations, allowing Abra to quickly Thunderpunch them back into the water.

"Those are some impressive battling skills, Spoink," Sabrina said, "that looked like Magic Coat." Spoink nodded proudly.

"That was a pretty strong Magic Coat, but that Psywave looked pretty weak," she pointed out. Spoink somewhat put his head down.

"Hey, it's okay. Nobody gets better without practice," Sabrina said soothingly, "Here, try holding your arms like this." Sabrina moved Spoink's arms into a backward position. At first, Spoink shied away, then accepted Sabrina's help.

"Channel your psychic energy into that orb, instead," She instructed. Spoink focused and sent a small wave of pink light into a rock before dispersing.

"Focus again, Spoink. Try to focus on creating a connection between the target and the orb. Spoink closed its eyes and the orb glowed, then sent a blast of rainbow energy into the rock, blowing it into tiny shards- Psybeam.

"Great job!" Sabrina praised. Spoink jumped up and down happily.

"There you are!" A voice called. Team Rocket was standing in their balloon overhead.

The three figures jumped out of the balloon.

"Machoke! Go!" James called.

"Abra, get ready!" Sabrina yelled. Jessie smirked. "Go, Spearow!" She yelled.

"Two against one, huh? You can never play fair," Sabrina said. Suddenly, Spoink jumped into the battle.

"Spoink? Are you going to battle with me?" she asked. Spoink nodded.

"Alright, Machoke use Fire Punch!" James yelled. The Superpower Pokémon attacked Abra, but Spoink jumped in front. It took the attack without even flinching.

"Thick Fat, huh?" Sabrina said. Spoink smiled, before jumping into the air and using its new Psybeam attack on Machoke. Machoke flew into the wall. "Double Team!" James yelled. Spoink held his arms in front of him while Machoke duplicated itself. Its arms glowed, and Spoink suddenly replicated the move.

"Psych Up," Sabrina commented, "Impressive.". Spoink smiled.

"Now, finish this with another Psybeam!" Sabrina called. Spoink shot another beam of rainbow-colored light out of its pearl and knocked out Machoke.

Abra had already made quick work of Spearow and was fighting Jessie's Ekans, who kept dodging the attacks using Dig. Spoink bounced into the air and used Psybeam, creating a crater where the hole from Ekans' dig attack used to be. Ekans was lying at the bottom, unable to battle.

"Meowth! Go!" Jessie shouted desperately. Meowth jumped into battle.

"Hey, you don't order me around, Jess!" Meowth yelled. He jumped into the battle and used Fury Swipes. Spoink bounced above the attack using Splash. Abra used ThunderPunch to hit Meowth back into the two trainers, and Spoink used Psybeam, sending the three criminals flying into the air.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they shouted.

"Great job, you two," Sabrina said. She returned Abra to its Pokéball and walked along with Spoink. A few hours later, the two arrived at Bill's ranch. Ash and Brock had already arrived. They had gotten pulled out by Pidgeotto and taken an easy walk while she had been keeping Team Rocket busy.

"Thank you very much for finding this little guy," Bill said, serving the group sandwiches. "Now I need to get back to tracking down his native territories.

"Native territories?" Sabrina asked, "are you saying this guy's lost? He only tends to appear in Hoenn!"

"Well, you see, there was a glitch in the system we use to send Pokèmon back to their original habitats when a trainer releases them. He ended up here: the Pokèmon teleporter's base location." Sabrina gasped.

"So that means he's not one of your analysis specimens?" She asked excitedly. Bill nodded. "Nope, this here is an unowned wild Spoink," he said. Sabrina walked up to Spoink. Ash, seeing what she had in mind, tossed her a Pokèball from his bag and nodded.

"Spoink, would you like to travel with me?" she asked. Spoink nodded and tapped the button on the Pokèball, which clicked shut immediately after Spoink entered.

"Meet our new friend, guys!" Ash said, letting his whole team out of their Pokèballs. They each greeted Spoink happily. Bill admired his team.

You already have an impressive group," he said, "any thoughts on what else you want?" Ash shook his head.

"I've kinda just caught Pokemon I make friends with," he said.

"Well… based on how happy the rest of your Pokémon are... I want you to take care of this for me," Bill said, handing Ash an egg, "I have no idea what's inside of it; the transport system received a request to release an egg while I was fixing the bug that brought me Spoink, and it somehow let it through." Ash took the egg.

"I promise I'll take good care of it," he said.

After finishing their meal, healing their Pokèmon, and getting a quick tutorial on how to take care of an egg, Bill offered the trainers to stay the night at his house.

"You know, a really strong trainer stopped by yesterday. I think his name was AJ. He was headed west to his usual training spot. If you hurry tomorrow, you'll be able to reach there early enough that you should be able to battle him that day.

"Strong trainer, huh?" Ash thought, "Sounds like a good challenge for my team." Sabrina smiled.

"I'm guessing we're heading that way tomorrow?" she said.

"Sounds like a plan," Ash responded.


	12. AJ's Gym

**A/N: Alright, guys! Welcome to chapter 12! I hope you're enjoying the story. As always, if you've got any questions, requests, comments, or critique, leave a review! I'm currently working on new chapters as well as releasing these, and favorites, follows, and especially reviews always give me that extra dose of motivation to write more! Enjoy the chapter!**

The next day, Ash woke up early and packed up his backpack. Brock and Sabrina had agreed to get up early to try to catch up with AJ. He clipped his Pokéball belt around his waist and looked at every Pokéball on it. He closed his eyes and remembered the stories behind each of them. He saw Pikachu, jumping in front of him to rescue him from Spearow. He saw Pidgey returning and evolving to help save him from Beedrill. He saw his first capture, Caterpie, and watched it evolve twice. He saw all three of them working together to train to beat Brock. He saw Nidoran save him from Team Rocket, then evolve to save him a second time. He saw Pikachu injured in his 1st battle with Misty at the lake. He saw his 2nd battle with Misty, and Butterfree winning by using the ice as a mirror. He then glanced at his new egg.

"What's inside you?" he wondered, "and what new stories will we create?". He closed his eyes and the egg glowed blue. He could feel the excitement of the creature inside.

"Take your time, little guy, I can wait," Ash said, before picking up the egg.

He reached to pet Pikachu, before remembering that he was still at the Pokémon Center. He pulled out his Pokénav+ and turned on a communicator, calling the Cerulean City Center. He checked them in on his location and got to say hi to Pikachu for a little.

"Pikachu was worried about you," Nurse Joy said after getting the communicator back from Pikachu.

"Sorry," Ash said, frowning, "I'll be sure to call him if I take another detour." He shut off the communicator and slipped the Pokénav+ into his pocket.

When Ash got downstairs, Brock was already awake, making pancakes for the group.

"I saw Sabrina when I woke up," Brock said after Ash had settled down at the table, "She said she had something to take care of before coming downstairs, but she'll be down before we leave." Ash smiled, taking a bite of the pancakes in front of him. He tapped each button on his belt, letting all of the Pokémon out of their capsules to eat the Pokéfood Brock had prepared for them.

"Nice of Bill to let us use his kitchen," Ash commented. Brock nodded. Sabrina walked downstairs.

"Yeah, and it was nice to sleep on a bed that wasn't a hotel bed," she said. The two other trainers expressed their agreements by nodding while eating their pancakes. Sabrina pulled up a chair and grabbed the third plate. After eating, they cleaned up and headed out the door. Soon, the three trainers were walking west. Spoink had decided to stay outside of its Pokèball and hop alongside its trainer. Ash carried the egg incubator in his arms. Brock was simply walking along with the two trainers.

Ash and Sabrina walked side by side, having a conversation about what they thought was in the egg.

"The teleporter in Bill's house transmits to every region, allowing you to transport Pokemon to other towns or even between regions. The egg could be from anywhere!" she said.

"Yeah, you're right," Ash said excitedly, he had been keeping his predictions to Kanto Pokèmon, but it could easily be from somewhere else. "It could be something really rare... like a Bagon! Then again, I really don't care what it is as long as it's my friend," he said, smiling. The egg seemed to glow slightly as he said those words.

About an hour later, the three trainers reached a structure on the side of the road. It was a fenced in yard with a fence stretching around it. A sign on top labeled it AJ's Pokèmon Gym. A sign by the gate read "Not an official Pokèmon league gym, no badge available". Ash smiled.

"We're here," he said, knocking on the gate.

"Hey! Anybody home?" Ash called. The gate swung open and a boy only slightly older than Ash himself stood inside.

"Hello, trainer. Welcome to my gym," he said, shaking Ash's hand. "Do you wish to challenge me?" Ash nodded.

"Right then, come with me," he said, leading Ash around the tent and to a sandy battlefield surrounded by a rocky fence. Two boxes were drawn on the field, one of which AJ requested Ash stand inside. Ash agreed, and AJ stood inside the other box.

"This will be a two on two battle!" AJ said, selecting a Pokeball from his belt. Ash grinned and did the same.

"Go! Sandshrew!" AJ Called, throwing out the Ground Type Mouse Pokémon.

"Sandshrew!" It called.

"Alright, Pidgeotto! This one's yours!" Ash called, throwing out his own Pokémon.

"Good choice, but it won't be good enough!" AJ called, "Use Rollout!" Sandshrew rolled into a ball and launched itself into a spin attack, aiming at Pidgeotto.

"Avoid the attack!" Ash called. Pidgeotto quickly flapped and moved farther into the air.

"Now use Steel Wing!" he called.

"Defense curl!" AJ yelled. Sandshrew curled into a ball and glowed blue, defending itself from the attack.

Meanwhile on the other side of the fence, Jessie, James, and Meowth were watching the trainers with interest, but while James was focused on the Pokémon in the battle, Jessie and Meowth had an entirely different focus.

"Look at that egg the twerp got from Bill!" Meowth said.

"I'm looking," Jessie said, "remember what we heard the girly twerp say earlier? She said that it could have come from any region... and be any Pokémon! Wouldn't a rare foreign Pokémon be the perfect gift for the boss?" She asked. Meowth nodded.

"I have the best plan to get our hands on it, too," he said.

"Rollout, one more time!" AJ called. Sandshrew rolled back into Pidgeotto, knocking it out.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Sandshrew is the winner! Select your second Pokémon!" AJ said.

"Alright," Ash said to himself, "I've got one more Pokémon left. I'm facing a ground type. My best choices would be Butterfree or Nidorino, since the two of them have moves that would be super-effective. Butterfree has a serious weakness to his rollout, but Nidorino is weak to any ground-type moves he uses. I guess I'll go with… Nidorino! I choose you!" Ash threw out Nidorino's Pokéball.

"Nidorino, use Surf!" Ash yelled. Nidorino roared and sent a blast of water at Sandshrew.

"Take the attack!" AJ yelled.

"What?" Ash questioned. Sandshrew kept itself in the path of the water blast and simply stood there, taking little to no damage.

"Nice try, but my Sandshrew has gone through incredible training to resist water type attacks!" AJ said, chuckling, "Now, use Magnitude!" As the water trickled away, Sandshrew slammed its foot into the ground and created super powerful shockwaves, sending Nidorino flying into the air.

"Supersonic, now!" Ash yelled. Nidorino shot high-pitched energy waves at Sandshrew, confusing it and making it unable to attack.

"Sandshrew, get through it and use Magnitude one more time!" Sandshrew slammed its foot into the ground, but this time only a very weak shock wave appeared.

"One more time, Sandshrew!" AJ yelled, getting somewhat panicked.

"Now, Nidorino, use Sucker Punch!" Ash yelled. Nidorino quickly dashed towards the Pokémon and slammed its paw into Sandshrew, sending it flying backwards, right as it unleashed the most powerful Magnitude attack yet. Both Pokémon fell to the ground, unable to battle. AJ smiled.

"That's the first time a trainer has beaten my Sandshrew in a while! But I defeated your two Pokémon and you only defeated one of mine, so that makes this my 99th victory," he said, walking to the center of the battlefield and holding out his hand. Ash stepped into the center as well and shook AJ's hand.

"Good battle, and congrats on the 99th win. If you wouldn't mind, could I see these special training methods of yours?" he said. AJ nodded and motioned for the trainers to follow him into the tent. Inside, there were several obstacle courses hanging from the ceiling. A pool had been set up on the ground in one corner with a ladder and diving board above. Weights and harnesses were hung in another corner. AJ healed Sandshrew using some items.

"Sandshrew. You need to train for mental strain. Use the headache band and try the obstacle course 25 times. Sandshrew nodded, wrapped a band around its head, and rolled into a ball before launching itself around posts and through hoops placed around the tent. Outside the tent, Team Rocket crouched.

"Okay, are we ready?" Jessie asked.

"Yup!" Meowth said, grinning and holding up a set of metal tongs. "The Team Rocket Egg Grabber is complete! He extended them under the tent. Inside, a bell rang and all of AJ's Pokèmon stopped training.

"Five minute break!" AJ announced, "then back to work!". Ash and AJ had been debating training tactics. Although the idea of training for weakness was very smart, the Pokèmon seemed overworked. Sandshrew rolled over next to the trainers, who were still discussing training methods, and rolled into a ball, exhausted. Suddenly, a pair of metal tongs closed around it. Outside the tent, Meowth cheered.

"Got it!" he said, retracting the tongs. Sandshrew opened up and broke the tongs in half.

"Ahh! It hatched!" James yelled.

"No, you idiot!" Jessie said, "It's that Sandshrew from the battle! This stupid cat got the wrong ball!". Ash and AJ ran outside, hearing the commotion.

"Team Rocket!" Ash growled, "that Sandshrew belongs to AJ!" Team Rocket cackled.

"That's not how it looks from over here!"

"Prepare for trouble,"

"Make it double,"

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight"  
"Meowth, that's right!"

"Pidgeotto use Steel Wing!" Ash yelled. Pidgeotto swooped forward and at the duo, wings glowing and turning into metal. "Block it, Spearow!" Jessie called, throwing out her own Flying Type. It glared at Pidgeotto and gave an angry shriek, glowing blue. Its wings grew much larger and its beak grew amazingly long and sharp.

"Fearow!" it called, flapping its powerful wings.

"Well this is an interesting turn of events! Fearow, use Fury Attack!" Jessie yelled.

"Steel Wing!" Ash countered. The two birds collided attacks in midair. "Blow it away with Gust!" Ash called.

"Go! Machoke!" James yelled, throwing out his own Pokémon.

"Take him down, Sandshrew! Use Rollout!" AJ yelled. The two Pokémon battles went along side by side, with each Pokémon unable to overpower the other.

"AJ, we need to work together!" Ash said. AJ nodded.

"Pidgeotto! Pick up Sandshrew and bring it into the air!" Ash commanded. Pidgeotto managed to tear away from its battle with Fearow. "Now, Sandshrew, use Rollout!" AJ yelled. Sandshrew rolled down towards Fearow, knocking it out of the air.

"Now use the force to use Magnitude on the ground!" While falling with paw sticking out, preparing to generate a shockwave of seismic energy, Sandshrew began to glow. The lines began to vanish from his skin as his claws expanded while its back turned brown and grew into spines. It landed on the ground and unleashed an Earthquake attack, knocking out Machoke.

"Sandslash!" the Pokémon called.

"Sandslash! You evolved!" AJ said ecstatically. "Congratulations," Ash said, "Your Pokémon really believed in you, and it evolved to help you defeat your opponents. Also, if I'm not mistaken, you have now officially won 100 matches." AJ smiled.

"You're right. And you know what? I'm going to go after the Pokémon League, too. Then I can get my gym licensed and be a real Gym Leader," he said.

"Then I'll see you there," Ash said. AJ nodded.

Team Rocket got up, the Earthquake attack had knocked them over and knocked out Meowth, but Jessie and James weren't done.

"Ekans, Koffing! Attack!" they yelled, throwing out their two Poison types.

"Now, Pidgeotto, use Gust! Blow Koffing into the ground!" Ash yelled.

"Use Earthquake!" AJ commanded. The two Pokémon followed directions.

"Now, use Steel Wing!" Ash yelled.

"And you use Rollout!" AJ yelled. The two Pokémon barreled into Team Rocket and their defeated Pokémon, sending them flying into the air.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they yelled. Ash and AJ high fived.

"Nice job," Ash said.

The two healed their Pokémon and Damian Packed suppies for his journey. Both continued to debate their training tactics, but battling alongside each other had given them a respect for how strong their bond with their Pokémon had become despite their differing tactics.

"So, I guess I'll see you at the Pokémon league." AJ shook his head.

"No, I think I'll see you before that," he said.

The two groups parted ways outside of the gym. Ash, Brock, and Sabrina were headed back towards Cerulean City to pick up Pikachu while AJ was headed towards the Trean City's Dark Type gym to win his first Gym Badge.

"Remember to train hard, Ash. I'll be seeing you again and I want you to be ready," AJ said, waving as Ash walked away. Ash smiled. He had a new rival... and he wasn't going to be beaten again.


	13. Friendly Old Hiker Gordon

"I'm going to be there soon, Pikachu, don't worry!" Ash said, speaking to Pikachu over a Pokénav+ videophone call. Pikachu nodded over the video screen.

"Pikachu has made a full recovery. He should be clear to go by tomorrow morning," Nurse Joy said, smiling.

"I'm so glad," Ash responded, "thank you so much for taking such good care of him." Nurse Joy laughed.

"It's my pleasure," she said, "we Nurse Joys make it our highest priority to make sure there are no Pokémon in need of help that don't get it." she said. Ash smiled.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Ash said, "see you soon."

Ash ended the call and opened the map. "We should be back in Cerulean by this afternoon," he reported to his companions.

"Prepare for trouble,"

"Make it double,"

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Oh, not again," Ash muttered. Team Rocket jumped out of the trees, holding another set of their tongs. It reached out and grabbed Ash's egg case from Sabrina's hands.

"Spoink, use Psybeam!" Sabrina said, throwing out Spoink's Pokèball. Spoink immediately shot a Psybeam at the tongs, breaking them and dropping the egg case. Ash dove for the egg as it began to glow, transforming into a black Pokèmon with white claws, two yellow gems on its face and chest, and red feathers sprouting out of its backside and head. "Sneasel," it said.

"It hatched," Ash gasped.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Could be heard in the background as Spoink sent the criminal trio into the air.

Brock and Sabrina congratulated Ash on his new hatch as Ash tapped a Pokèball to Sneasel.

"Remember, Ash. Training should wait for a couple of weeks while the Pokémon gets used to its body," Brock lectured. Ash nodded. "And it shouldn't be out of its Pokéball for more than an hour at a time to prevent physical injury." Ash nodded again.

"Brock, I know. You've been telling me about the process of raising baby Pokémon for the last three days, and a lot of it I've already learned from Professor Oak," Ash interrupted, "I also know that they should be fed minimal amounts of normal-type food until its first elemental abilities begin to appear so that it doesn't overload on energy." Brock sighed. He felt kinda useless since it was clear Ash knew what he was doing.

"We'll still be taking that Pokémon!" Jessie shouted, floating down on the Meowth balloon. Meowth jumped out and grabbed Ash's Pokéball.

"No!" Brock shouted, lunging into Meowth and grabbing the Pokéball back. Sneasel popped out of the Pokéball and glanced at the menacing Cat Pokémon. It ran towards Brock, but Meowth lunged for it and grabbed him by the tail feathers. He was pulled back into the balloon by a harness connected to a winch on the Balloon.

"Sneasel!" Ash called, attempting to return Sneasel, but it was out of range, "We have to find him, now!"

"Split up," Brock suggested. Ash nodded. The three trainers split into different directions, trying to track the balloon. Ash closed his eyes, trying to read Sneasel's aura to locate it, but failed. He frowned, afraid of what would happen if he didn't find Sneasel. He was very weak and could be hurt by spending more than an hour out of his Pokèball.

Brock pushed through the branches in the woods. He began to hear voices on the other side of the underbrush.

"I can't believe we got away with that," James said, "that was probably one of the most stupid plans we've ever concocted." Jessie smacked him.

"Don't insult my plans, James," she said.

"Both of you are idiots," Meowth said, slashing them in the face with Fury Swipes, "we failed to get it before it hatched, and we can't pretend to be its mother now! Not to mention the Twerps are obviously tracking us and the thing panicked and slashed our balloon to bits!"

Brock quickly wrote out two notes explaining his situation and position.

"Zubat, get these to Ash and Sabrina," he whispered, sending out his Zubat and tying the message to its foot. Zubat flew off and Brock waited to hear back. A few minutes later, a response arrived from Pidgeotto.

"Caught in a battle with wild Pokèmon, you're on your own. Meet at Bill's house." Pidgeotto also carried a package including Sneasel's Pokéball, to help keep the Pokémon safe. Brock frowned. He had to be careful. He snuck through the trees and attempted to grab Sneasel, breaking the cage lock with a rock. Suddenly, Fearow landed on top of the cage, cawing at him. Brock grabbed a Pokèball off of his belt.

"Go, Geodude!" He yelled, throwing out the Pokèball.

"Use Rock Throw!" he yelled. Geodude began launching rocks at Fearow. Fearow attacked with a Fury Attack, to little effect. Jessie stepped out of the trees.

"Oh, great!" She yelled, "the spare twerp!".

"Go, Onix!" Brock yelled, sending out his third and final Pokèmon. Suddenly, he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Graveler, use Rock Blast!" the voice called. A fit man with a long beard and untrimmed hair stepped forward as his Pokémon, Graveler, attacked Fearow with a powerful Rock Blast attack, dealing several hits and trapping the wings of the Bird Pokémon.

"Now, use dig to get us a path out of here!" he said. Graveler turned and dug a hole at rapid speed. the man grabbed onto Brock.

"Come on, kid!" he said, dragging Brock along with him. Sneasel clung onto Brock's neck as they went. Graveler broke into a series of caverns, where the Man continued to run down a path before Team Rocket could see where they went. After getting to a safe distance away, the man stopped running.

"Graveler, use Bulldoze on the wall, collapse the tunnel," he said. Graveler complied, and the attack caused the tunnel they had just traveled through to collapse, stopping Team Rocket from pursuing them down the tunnel.

"Thank you, my friend," the man said, holding out Graveler's Pokéball and returning Graveler, "Now, If I may ask, what were you doing getting tangled up with Team Rocket?"

"Oh, well you see, Sneasel here is my friend Ash's Pokémon. They stole it, so we split up to find it. I was the only one who was able to get to it. Speaking of which, Sneasel, return!" Brock said, holding out Sneasel's Pokéball and returning the Pokémon. The man nodded.

"So that's why they called you a Spare Twerp. My guess is you're traveling with a boy and a girl, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. They're Pokémon trainers and I'm a breeder, trying to travel with them to figure out what makes their bond with their Pokémon so strong."

"Well has it ever occurred to you that the bonds between a trainer and a Pokémon can't be formed in the same way by two people?"

"Huh?"

"Take Graveler and me. I traveled with a group of friends for a while, but after a long time I learned that the best way for me to bond with my Pokémon would be to spend a week alone in the wilderness with them. All my Pokémon have done it. Maybe you just haven't figured out what your method is yet."

"Maybe you're right!"

"Yes, of course I am, now we need to get you back to your friends."

The hiker pointed down a tunnel.

"This pathway leads to the surface. We should get back to where you were in about an hour. Lead the way, Lampent," the man said. A beam of light shot from the Pokéball as it opened, revealing the Unovan Lamp Pokémon.

"You know, I've heard weird legends about Lampent. It's said that they lead people to the spirit world and steal their life energy," Brock said cautiously as he walked. The hiker laughed.

"You can't believe everything you hear. That's a silly superstition! I mean look at me. People are always afraid to approach me because they think I'm some grouchy old man. I'm a friendly guy when ya bother to talk to me. Friendly old Hiker Gordon they call me in my hometown…" The man's voice drained away after mentioning his hometown.

"Sir?" Brock said, concerned, "what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," the man said.

"No, it's not," Brock insisted, "Look, I've told you all about me. Tell me a bit about you."

"Well my name is Gordon and I'm the one who saved you. Now, let's get you back to your friends," the man snapped.

"Fine then, my name is Brock," Brock said. The two walked in silence. Brock started to think about his own journey. He had inherited his gym and several of the Pokémon he battled with from his father. He always doubted his own ability to bond with them, but always kept trying. He had caught Zubat to try again fresh with a new Pokémon. So far, he hadn't made much progress.

"I haven't seen my hometown in years," Gordon said. Brock turned to look at him.

"I had decided to take a cross-region trip with my Pokémon, a Timburr. One of my friends came with me. A girl named Nora. We hiked for months, camping out in the woods. I loved it. But Nora got tired of traveling around. When we got home, she wanted to stay behind… with me. I didn't want it to end. I ran out into the woods and got lost. I met a Litwick and we started traveling together. It evolved into my friend Lampent. The next time I had returned home, I heard that Nora had moved away. I haven't heard from her since…" Brock looked down.

"I… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry," he said.

"I'll find her one day. That's why I'm hiking. I've hiked across three regions already. Once I make it through Kanto, I'll have a fourth under my belt."

Suddenly, the cave wall next to them imploded as two Rhydon charged through, drilling a new tunnel through the rock.

"Get back!" Gordon yelled, grabbing Brock and pulling him back. The tunnel in front of them crumbled and collapsed.

"That was our way out," Brock said.

"True, but those Rhydon had to have come from somewhere. Let's go in the other direction."

The two trainers started walking up tunnel.

"What was that, anyway?"

"Rhydon tend to do that. They live in caverns in the mountain and drill tunnels as a part of their mating process. The Males make tunnels to impress the females with their strength. Those two are probably competing for a mate. The one whose tunnel goes farthest will win the female." Gordon said.

"You sure know a lot about Rhydon's mating process," Brock said.

"Well when you travel through their tunnels as often as I do, you learn to know what they're doing. Usually I wouldn't even be traveling through this part of the tunnels at this time of day, but you needed to get away from those criminals, and this was the fastest way."

As the two walked along, they reached a cavern. The top glittered with crystals. Their tunnel reached an outcropping of rock, with a path carved in the rock leading to it. Looking down, several Rhydon and Rhyhorn were standing inside. Many Rhydon were grouping up, while others were getting into battles.

"We shouldn't be here," Gordon said. Brock turned to ask him what was wrong when his foot slipped. Gordon grabbed onto his arm, but Brock slammed into the side of the outcropping as he fell off. All eyes in the cavern suddenly turned towards him.

"Let me go and run!" Brock yelled as the Rhydon began to charge a Hyper Beam attack.

"Not happening, Brock, now grab on!" Gordon responded reaching out with his other hand. Brock grabbed on and was pulled up.

"We can't beat all of them, now let's go!" Brock said.

The two ran back down the tunnel right as the Hyper Beams were fired. The tunnel started to collapse.

"Well, no need to worry about keeping the structure of the cave secure now! Graveler, use Bulldoze to try to clear us a path!" Gordon said, throwing out Graveler's Pokéball. Graveler slammed into the debris from where the tunnel had collapsed, but it only revealed more rubble. A group of Rhyhorn broke into their tunnel.

"They're still chasing us?" Brock said.

"Yes. During mating season, Rhyhorn get extremely territorial. They think we're threatening the cavern!" Gordon said, "Keep going, Graveler."

"Wait, pull back Graveler. I have an idea," Brock said, pulling out one of his own Pokéballs.

"Okay," Gordon said, returning his Pokémon.

"Alright, let's clear this out quickly, Geodude! Use Self-Destruct!" Brock said, throwing out his own Pokéball. Geodude appeared in the cavern and entered the tunnel dug by Graveler and glowed white, sending out a wave of energy that destroyed the rest of the rubble. Brock returned Geodude and the two trainers ran through the tunnel until it reached the sunlight.

"They're not going to leave us alone!" Gordon yelled as the Rhydon beared down on them, "Graveler, we're going to have to fight!" He threw out Graveler.

"Fine then!" Brock said, "Onix, I choose you!" Brock threw out his Onix. Both Pokémon faced down against the group of eight Rhydon.

"Brock!" a voice called. Ash and Sabrina rushed into the clearing.

"Ash! Good timing!" Brock said.

"We heard the roars and came to see what was going on!" Sabrina said.

Ash sent out Nidorino as Sabrina sent out Spoink. The four Pokémon faced down the eight opposing Pokémon.

"Onix, use Bulldoze!"

"Right, Graveler, same with you!" The two Pokémon slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that forced four of the Rhydon back.

"Spoink! Use Psybeam!"

"Nidorino, use Surf!"

Spoink shot a beam of light at one of the remaining Rhydon, while the other three were thrown back by a blast of water from Nidorino."

"Let's finish them together!" Ash called. The three trainers nodded.

"Nidorino, use Surf!

"Spoink, Psybeam!"

"Onix, Rock Throw!"

"Graveler, Rock Blast!

Spoink and Nidorino shot their attacks at full power, throwing the Pokémon back into the tunnels. Onix and Graveler shot their rocks at the entrance. Brock smiled.

"We did it…" he said. Ash and Sabrina nodded. Brock walked over to Ash and handed him Sneasel's Pokéball.

"Thanks, man," Ash said.

"I couldn't have done it without Gordon," Brock said, "I'll tell you later, but we're supposed to be headed back to Cerulean. Gordon, do you want to come along?" Gordon shook his head.

"I'm afraid my journey has me headed in the opposite direction. This is where we part ways," he replied.

"Alright then," Brock said, disappointed, "I hope you find Nora, Gordon." Gordon smiled.

"Brock, remember what I said about bonds. You'll have to find your own way, but if traveling with these two is what makes you happy, keep doing it. Just promise me that if the day comes when you get a chance to find something better, don't let it go. Promise me that," he said. Brock nodded.

"Thank you, Brock," Gordon said.

After Brock finished saying goodbye to Gordon, the three trainers headed to Cerulean quickly, where Ash reunited with Pikachu who was back to full health and ready to battle. They decided to take a rest that evening before heading out of town the next day. Brock headed to his room, a lot on his mind. Sabrina and Ash stayed up a bit later, hanging out in the cafe.

"So, where to next?" Ash asked, turning to his friend for advice.

"Well, if we head east and follow the main route, we'll reach Lavender Town. That'll give you a good chance to train, maybe catch some Ghost-Types to round out your team. If we follow the coast from there, we'll reach Fuchsia, which is home to a Poison-Type gym."

"Perfect."

The two nodded and sipped at the hot cocoas they'd bought.

"Hey," Ash continued, "do you think Brock seemed off tonight?"

"Yeah, ever since we left Gordon. He didn't even go off to flirt with Nurse Joy when we got here. Do you think it has something to do with Gordon's story, the one that Brock told us on the way back?"

"I'll ask him about it in the morning."

"Good idea."

Ash gathered his things and headed for the stairs to the rooms, Sabrina close behind. Their rooms were directly across from each other.

"Can you imagine it?" Sabrina asked, before entering her room, "Traveling three whole regions looking for one girl?"

"Yeah…" Ash admitted, "I think I can. If it were the right person."

Sabrina turned her head away to hide her blush. "Yeah. Me too."


	14. Misty Waters

**A/N: Howdy! I hope you guys don't mind that I took a little longer to release this chapter. It's another rewrite, so I had to take the time to rewrite, then I needed to take the time to cool down before editing. On top of that, it was midterms last week, so I needed to take a little break. I *should* be back to the frequent updates until Ash beats Lt. Surge.**

Ash woke the next morning to the sound of the phone ringing. He picked it up, groggily asking, "hello?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you, Mr. Ketchum. The Gym Leader has requested to meet with you. She says it's important." Nurse Joy's voice said over the phone. Ash frowned. What did she want with him now?

"Did she say what she wanted?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, but she didn't."

Ash thanked the nurse and hung up the phone, then changed into his day's clothes. He packed his Pokémon and considered not going, but cheater or not a summons from a gym leader wasn't something to be ignored. He left a note to Sabrina and Brock and left the Pokémon Center. When he reentered the gym, Misty was waiting for him in the bleachers. He sat down next to her.

"You showed," she said. She was dressed in a yellow dress and white jacket, and Ash could see her nervously fidgeting with something in her pocket.

"You did say it was important. What do you want, Misty?" he asked.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened in our battle."

"Oh," Ash said, honestly not expecting that answer.

"When I first received this gym, it was the happiest day of my life. I left and handed it over to my sisters so I could train to be better at the job, but after they handed it over to Lucius, everything became about getting the gym back. Now, it's getting old, it's falling apart, and the city doesn't care enough to fix it. Trainers don't want to come to some old run down gym in the back of the aquarium."

"So you play dirty?"

"So I do what I need to do to get wins in the books, to get as many battles as I can. If I don't, they'll shut down the gym or hand it back to Lucius. He's popular enough to get people coming to the gym. I'm not."

Ash understood what she meant. While most gym leaders owned their gyms, some, like Misty's, were town-owned, and the town sponsored the most skilled trainer in the area to run the building. That meant that if she couldn't show that the gym was popular, it wouldn't get the funding needed to maintain it or keep it up and running. Eventually, it would either be shut down, or handed off to a different trainer. Lucius was a skilled ice-type trainer who had won the Pokémon League tournament 6 years prior, so he was a good candidate to run the gym and make it popular.

"But why is being a gym leader so important to you? I know you passed all the certification, but why not do something else?"

"Look, I don't have to explain myself to you," she snapped. She rose to leave when Nurse Joy suddenly burst through the doors of the gym.

"Misty!" She called, "the Pokémon Center, it's been robbed!"

Ash and Misty ran over to the Center. The doors had been blown off, and several trainers were nursing injured Pokémon.

"They took us by surprise. A gang of thieves calling themselves the Quartet. They attacked a few months ago, but Lucius was able to fight them off."

"Of course he was," Misty sighed, "Alright, which way did they go?"

"They headed northwest, the officers lost them around the southern point of the woods."

"We may need a gang of trainers," Ash said, stepping in, "Misty and I can take the lead, she knows the area and I… should be able to find them."

"I don't need a team," Misty snapped, "Lucius fought these guys off, we can do the same."

"Misty," Ash hissed, "The Pokémon are more important than your pride."

"Well, I'm the gym leader. This is my call."

Misty grabbed her Pokéballs from the gym and met Ash outside.

"You still insist on following me?" she asked.

"I can sense Pokémon's auras. I can help you find them faster."

"Fine. Let's go."

Ash left Sabrina and Brock to help clean up the Pokémon Center, then, at Sabrina's request, handed over Butterfree.

"I'll explain afterward," she said. Ash nodded.

The two trainers made their way to the location the Police were searching.

"Any luck?" Misty asked.

"No, I'm afraid they've gotten away in the woods. They had dirtbikes; we managed to keep up with them for a while, but they've beaten down our Pokémon pretty hard. We lost them."

"That's why I'm here," Ash said, stepping forward.

"And what are you going to do that I can't?" Officer Jenny asked offendedly.

"Sense auras," Ash said, closing his eyes. The officer watched in surprised silence as Ash focused his energy, letting the world around him fade. A Pokémon Center's worth of Pokémon couldn't be too hard to track. He finally sensed the powerful aura and focused in on it, looking for landmarks to help determine geography. He smiled as he sensed the fish in the water, obviously near a river. He sensed Pokémon higher up, though, and they were on land as well. So that would have to mean...

"They're in some sort of canyon, that way," Ash said, pointing.

"Of course," Officer Jenny said, "Lunar Falls is just a little ways to the north."

"If they've got boats and manage to get into the tunnels underneath Mount Moon, it'll be nearly impossible to track them," Misty said, "You head back to town, heal your team, I'll take it from here."

"You mean we'll take it from here," Ash said, "I'm still coming with you."

"Of course. Thank you for lending your assistance." Misty made this comment with a glare that made it clear that she was distinctly not thankful. The two traveled to a dirt road leading through the woods.

"Misty, these guys managed to take out the officers and escape at the same time. Are you completely sure you don't want to call for backup?" Ash asked.

"I don't need backup!" Misty snapped. The two reached the edge of a cliff and ducked behind a rock.

"Why are you so insistent that you have to do everything yourself? You're putting all those Pokémon in danger!" Ash hissed.

"I'm strong enough to fight some thieves without help," Misty hissed back. Ash sighed and rolled his eyes. There seemed to be no convincing her. Ash peeked over the rock and watched the criminals load their stolen Pokémon into one of their three dinghies. The four prepared to embark, one on a dinghy in the back, two guarding the Pokémon, and one taking the lead. Suddenly, the criminal on the last boat locked eyes with him for a split second.

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!" He shouted. The rock was blasted apart and both Ash and Misty were sent tumbling, the wind knocked out of them. Misty got to her feet first.

"Go, Starmie!"

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball again!" the criminal shouted. Starmie was quickly knocked out by the super-effective attack. Ash reached for his Pokéballs, as two criminals ran toward him. One sent out a Machamp, the other a Golbat. He grabbed Pidgeotto's Pokéball and threw it into the air.

"Pidgeotto, get help!" He yelled. Pidgeotto looked at his trainer with concern as he was grabbed by Machamp.

"Go!" Ash yelled again. Pidgeotto nodded and took to the skies, looking back only once before taking off at full speed. Soon, both Ash and Misty were restrained by the criminals, a gang of four.

"Well, well, well," The leader of the gang said, "it seems that we've caught ourselves a trainer… and a gym leader, too!"

"Let us go!" Ash yelled, "or you'll be sorry!"

"Will we? You've got some pretty strong Pokémon, both of you do! I think we'll take you with us... We can find ways to make you work for us." The two were loaded into the back of a boat and the boats descended into darkness.

Pidgeotto took off at full speed toward the city gates. He reached the city and sped toward the Pokémon Center. Suddenly, a shape slammed into its side.

"Fearow!" it cried. Pidgeotto recognized this as Team Rocket's Fearow. Pidgeotto spread its wings and stabilized its flight, growling. He flapped his wings and flew higher into the air, using Double Team to surround Fearow. Fearow used Fury Attack while spinning in order to disperse the clones, but was struck with a Whirlwind attack from the real Pidgeotto, which, since he was out of range of his trainer's Pokéball, sent him spiraling toward the ground. He recovered, but not in time to stop the incoming Steel Wing from Pidgeotto. He regained his balance a few feet before hitting the ground and launched into a Peck attack, hitting Pidgeotto several times before getting smacked away by another Steel Wing. The two landed on rooftops across from each other to recover, then launched back into the air.

The two charged toward each other, until Pidgeotto at the last minute adjusted to launch itself into the air, using Gust to send Fearow toward the rooftop once again. Fearow let out a battle cry and launched quickly into the air, overtaking Pidgeotto before swooping downward in an Aerial Ace attack. Pidgeotto had no way to dodge, but before the attack landed, a glowing green orb struck Fearow and exploded, stopping the attack and sending him spiraling out of the sky and back into the rooftop, where he lay still.

"Freeeee!" Butterfree called, flying down in front of Pidgeotto.

"Freee, frreeeee!" Butterfree scolded. Pidgeotto lowered his head, nodding in understanding. He couldn't get distracted. He had a job to do. At the Pokémon Center, Sabrina paced nervously while watching the skies. Brock was busy inside organizing the trainers. She saw two shapes approaching and frowned. It was Pidgeotto and Butterfree. Pidgeotto cawed urgently- trouble.

Ash sat with his back to Misty. They were both tied up separately, then tied together. They couldn't move. Ash was surprised when Misty broke the silence.

"My mom was the last Cerulean Gym Leader… Dad was never really around, so she raised my sisters and I pretty much on her own. She was strong, and kind, and smart... My sisters always wanted to watch the water shows, but I was always in the stands when she had a challenger. She was the one who taught me how to fish, how to train, how to battle. Then, she got sick. When she left us… I promised her I'd be strong like her. I left to train, and then my sisters lost the gym... I barely managed to win it back from Lucius. Most of my Pokémon were on loan from the town, or they were mom's and they wouldn't obey me. Lucius was actually the one who convinced the town to let me borrow Pokémon for a battle with him last time… if I lose the gym again… I can't lose it again. I have to be strong."

"But in the process, you're becoming somebody that people don't want to battle. Would your mom rather you had the gym, or had your honor in battle?" Misty lowered her head and they traveled in silence yet again. Ash closed his eyes and let the world around him fade. He could sense the Pokémon on the boats around him, yet he could sense Pidgeotto and Butterfree nearby. He reached out to them, begging them to feel his presence the same way he could feel theirs. A flash of light engulfed his vision, and he was back in the boat.

Outside the cave, Pidgeotto and Butterfree stood with Sabrina and Brock. Another trainer stood in a Policeboat, preparing it to travel through the caves.

"You're sure that these Pokémon will find them?" the trainer in the front boat asked.

"Trust me, Ash is no ordinary trainer," Sabrina said, "he'll find a way."

At that moment, there was a surge of movement as Pidgeotto and Butterfree both flew into the cave.

"Follow them!" she called. Brock nodded, and the policeboat took off into the cave. Soon, they were catching up with the slow-moving dinghies, lighting the caves with a searchlight.

"They found us! Move!" the crime leader yelled. The boats' motors blasted to full speed, filling the tunnels with noise.

"Butterfree! Our motor!" Ash called. Butterfree shot an energy ball through the tunnel and smashed the motor.

"Pidgeotto, ropes!" Pidgeotto quickly caught up with the slowing boat and slashed through the ropes with Steel Wing. Ash dealt a swift punch in the face to the criminal in the boat and took back his Pokémon. He and Misty leapt onto the boat.

"We need to stop the boats!" Ash yelled. He grabbed Nidorino's Pokéball to call for a Surf attack when a voice from the front of the boat yelled "Ninetales, Ice Beam!"

Ash did a double take as a the sleek form of Ninetales appeared. It shot the silver beam at the water around the boats, and the boats were frozen in place, unable to move. Ash took out his Pokénav and scanned the silver creature.

"Ninetales- Alolan Variant, The Fox Pokémon. Possessing a calm demeanor, this Pokémon was once revered as a deity incarnate in Alola. Anyone who angers it will be frozen stiff in an instant," the Pokédex informed. Ninetales stepped back over to its trainer- a dark skinned boy with long black hair, wearing a silver light ski jacket unzipped over a white shirt and jeans.

"Lucius," Misty said, then, begrudgingly, "thank you." Lucius nodded, "Thank me when it's over, Mis,"

"I told you not to call me that!" Misty snapped. Lucius chuckled.

The criminals growled and sent out their Pokémon- Machamp, Golbat, Gengar, and Dodrio. The rough, frozen water created by Ninetales served as a battleground. The silver fox stood ready for battle.

"Staryu, help out!" Misty called, throwing out a Pokéball that had been hidden inside a pocket of her jacket.

"Alright, Nidorino! You're up!" Ash yelled.

"Geodude!" Brock added.

"And you, Abra!" Sabrina finished. The five Pokémon squared up against their enemies.

"You're outmatched," Lucius warned, "Let me take on the Dodrio and the Machamp."

"A fighting type against an ice type?" Misty asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Ash said, "Ninetales has a few tricks." Ash had read the Pokédex entry.

"Alright, use Ice Beam, freeze them in place!" Lucius called. Dodrio leapt into the air, but Machamp was trapped as the ice extended up to its knees.

"Dodrio, Jump Kick!" the Pokémon's trainer called.

"Hail, if you please!" Lucius countered. The air around the cavern seemed to rapidly drop in temperature, and suddenly Ninetales disappeared. Dodrio crashed into a wall as Ninetales reappeared. Machamp managed to free itself from the ice.

"Use Mach Punch!" its trainer called. The attack landed, and Ninetales slid a short distance back.

"Blizzard!" Lucius called. A blast of ice hit both Machamp and Dodrio. Dodrio collapsed.

"Mach Punch, again!" the trainer called.

"Use Dazzing Gleam, now!" Lucius caled. Ninetales roared and a flash of light filled the chamber and Machamp collapsed.

"Now, Geodude, use Rock Throw!"

"Staryu, use Bubble!"

Misty and Brock both commanded their Pokémon to attack the Golbat, which was buffeted by the water-type attack before getting struck repeatedly by the rocks from Geodude. Although weak to the attack, it shook off the pain.

"Golbat, use Supersonic!"

"Staryu, into the water!"

"Rock Throw on the walls, drown out the sound!" Brock called. Geodude nodded and managed to keep the effects from taking as major a toll.

"Use Rapid Spin, Staryu!"

Staryu finished landed the attack repeatedly, bouncing off the walls until coming to a standstill next to Geodude. Golbat fluttered weakly.

"Use Rock Throw!" Brock commanded. The attack took its toll and Golbat was knocked into the water, unable to battle.

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!"

"Use Surf, Nidorino!"

Nidorino forced the attack back with the blast of water from the tunnel floor, then let the attack fly at Gengar.

"Electrify it, Abra! Use Thunderpunch!" Sabrina commanded. Abra plunged its fist into the path of the Surf attack, electrifying it and dealing extra damage to the Gengar.

"Use Shadow Ball, again!"

"Sucker Punch, now Nidorino!"

The super effective Sucker Punch from Nidorino threw Gengar backwards, right into the path of Abra, who had teleported behind it.

"Thunder Punch!" Sabrina called.

"Poison Sting!" Ash added.

Although Poison Sting didn't do much damage, it, combined with the damage it had already taken, was enough to knock it unconscious. All of the criminals' Pokémon were unable to battle. Lucius restrained the criminals while Ash, Misty, Brock, and Sabrina helped transfer the stolen Pokémon back to the Policeboats, then left the caverns. The officers were waiting for them when they arrived. They all rode a truck back to the Pokémon Center, where the trainers settled for a much-deserved rest.

"I'm guessing he's why you asked for Butterfree?" Ash asked Sabrina, gesturing toward Lucius.

"Yeah. I knew he was training in the general area, but Butterfree has just enough latent Psychic ability that with a little… advice… it was able to track him down. He was happy to help once I explained the situation."

"And it's a good thing he was," Brock said, "that was a powerful group of trainers. It's a good thing that they'll be behind bars." Misty lowered her head.

"He's right," she said, turning toward Lucius, "and that's why… I'm leaving Cerulean."

"What, Mis?"

"Lucius, I hereby confer the title of Cerulean Gym Leader back onto you, if you'll take it," she said, "I need to leave to think, and... you're truly the better gym leader."

"I am for now, but… just like last time. If you come back, and you think you really are strong enough to take me on, then I'll be happy to give you the opportunity." Misty nodded.

"Thanks, Lucius."

She turned to Ash.

"Do you think, just for a little, until I get my feet on the ground, I could travel with you?" She asked. Ash turned to his friends, who nodded.

"Sure, Misty," he said. They shook hands.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked.

"We're headed to Lavender Town next…" Ash said, but was interrupted when his Pokénav+ began ringing.

"Give me one sec," he said, noting that Professor Oak was calling, "I need to take this."

He picked up the phone.

"Ash, are you there? I've just received a call from somebody named Melanie. She says she knows you," Oak's voice asked.

"Yeah, I know her, what's wrong?"

"She wouldn't explain, but it sounded bad. She said to tell you that the villiage was in danger, and that she needed help. She wouldn't give me any more information than that, but insisted that I call you."

"I understand, Professor. Thank you," Ash said. He hung up the phone and turned to his companions.

"Change of plans. We're headed back to Viridian. A friend needs my help."


	15. Battle for the Hidden Village

Melanie ran into her home. Another group of the trainers with "R"s on their chest was attacking the village,

"Come out here, girl!" one of the men yelled. She stepped back out the door as she knew that the trainers would not hesitate to hurt the other Pokémon if they found them unless she listened.

"Where are the Pokémon?" he asked. She didn't answer.

"Ursaring, encourage her to tell us," the man said, gesturing to a powerful Pokémon behind him. Ursaring charged a Hyper Beam, aiming it at Melanie's house.

"Nidorino! Use Sucker Punch!" a voice shouted. Melanie gasped. She knew that voice. A purple Pokémon slammed into Ursaring, knocking its Hyper Beam off target and sending it into the sky instead.

"Now, Butterfree, Sleep Powder!" The voice yelled. A Butterfree fluttered over Ursaring, spreading powder that put it to sleep. It landed on the ground next to the Nidorino.

A figure stepped out of the trees, followed by three more. One Melanie recognized as the Pewter Gym Leader, Brock. The others were two girls- one with blue hair and the other with orange hair. The figure was her friend Ash Ketchum, and he was not happy with these strangers.

"Butterfree, use Confusion!" Butterfree launched a super powerful Confusion attack to send Ursaring flying towards the trainers. The Team Rocket grunts returned the Pokémon and ran back into the trees.

"We'll be back!" one of the grunts yelled as he fled. Ash smiled.

"And we'll be ready," he said. Ash sent out his Pokémon and had Sabrina do the same.

"Alright, you guys. I want you to patrol the village perimeter. Find me if you see anything," Ash said. The Pokémon nodded and split up to follow Ash's instructions.

"Ash, I'm glad you're here," Melanie said, giving him a hug.

"I'm happy to help. What's going on?"

"Those criminals have been attacking for about 3 days now. So far, we've been lucky, but a lot of our stronger battlers have gotten injured. Bulbasaur... he's not doing very well. He hasn't slept since the attacks began." Ash turned to Sabrina.

"Take care of them; I'm gonna go see Bulbasaur. Brock, Misty. Come with me. You can help," he said. Sabrina nodded while Ash walked into the cave with the three others. Melanie led him into the labyrinth of tunnels. She took a few turns in different directions and they reached a dead end. She reached to the side and moved the curtain that was stealthily hung to give the perspective of a dead end, then entered a cavern. It was lit on the walls by torches being kept alight by a Magby. A small trickle of water dripped from a crack in the wall, forming a pool of fresh water to drink from. Shelves had been cut in the rock wall for supplies. Mats had been set out for injured Pokémon. Ash ran over to one of the mats with Brock, where Bulbasaur lay injured.

"Hey, Bulbasaur. Remember me?" he asked.

"Bulba," the Pokémon replied quietly, moving its head to touch its forehead to Ash's hand. Ash smiled and gave it a small pet, then stood up.

"Is he going to be okay?" he asked. Brock nodded. "He's just overexhausted." Ash smiled.

"I know you want to protect your friends but you need to sleep, too," he said. Bulbasaur sighed and shook its head. Ash looked over and saw a Clefairy in the room. "Clefairy, use Sing on Bulbasaur, please," he said. Clefairy nodded, using the attack quietly on Bulbasaur so as to not put anybody else asleep. Bulbasaur struggled to stay awake, but then fell asleep. Ash sighed and let Bulbasaur's head fall to the mat.

"Alright, now I've got to go take care of Team Rocket." He left the cave. In another part of the forest, a large group of Team Rocket grunts were assembled around their camp as a helicopter landed in the middle. A man stepped out of the helicopter as it took off back into the air.

"So the Commander really had to call me in to deal with some stupid cabin in the woods, huh?" he chuckled, "the standards for joining the team have really gone down." He threw three Pokéballs into the air and a Houndoom, a Steelix, and a Golbat burst out.

"Alright, you goons. I'm in charge now. Now, we are all attacking that village tonight," he said. Standing in a bush nearby was a small yellow Mouse Pokémon. It turned around and dashed back into the trees. Pikachu dashed back into the village, tracking Ash down and emitting panicked squeaks at him.

"What is it, buddy?" Ash asked. Pikachu continued to squeak at Ash until Ash finally removed one of his gloves and placed his hand on Pikachu's head. Ash closed his eyes and focused. He felt the world fall out of focus and spin around him. He had only done this once before, so he hoped it would work again. He opened his eyes and was standing inside of a bush. He was a glowing blue figure made of aura, visiting Pikachu's memory. He saw the new Team Rocket member and his Pokémon. He tried to stay longer to hear parts of their plans, but once Pikachu was gone the scene faded. Ash let himself fall back into his own body.

"Oh, great. An all out assault tonight," he muttered. "Sabrina, head back into the cave and tell Brock that we're gonna need him. Tell Misty to stay back and be the final wave of defense." Sabrina nodded and ran off into the cave. An hour later, as the sun sank behind the trees, a line of Pokémon was formed around camp. Any battle-capable Pokémon from the cave had been brought out to be lead by Brock while Ash and Sabrina led their own teams. Ash was the first to detect the incoming attack using his Aura sensing abilities.

"Flying wave, attack!" he called. Butterfree, Zubat, Pidgeotto, and a group of Spearow and Pidgey from the caves took off into the air, launching their most powerful attacks at an advancing group of grunts. Many took cover as the attacks slammed them. A few managed to get through, though.

"Don't let them get through!" Ash called, "Nidorino, this one's yours!". Nidorino closed its eyes and allowed the water from the stream to streak towards it, sending its most powerful Surf attack ever squarely at the advancing grunts, plowing them back into the path of the Flying Wave's attacks. Suddenly, a roar was heard as a Heat Wave slammed into all of the Flying Wave. A Houndoom lunged out of the forest and used a Dark Pulse on Nidorino, launching it into a tree.

"Hold Ranks!" Ash called as Pikachu launched itself off his shoulder. "Now! Use Electro Ball!" he called. Pikachu shot a powerful Electro Ball at Houndoom, throwing it backward.

"Remember what we're fighting for!" he shouted. His eyes began to glow blue; a wave of energy seemed to pulse out of him.

"Now, Thunderpunch!" Pikachu continued his assault on Houndoom. A trainer stepped out of the woods. He was dressed in a leather jacket with a small red R on the shoulder. His dark brown pants were full of rips and tears, and his black hair was buzzed. He wore black boots that ended where his pants began.

"So, you're the kid who's been getting in our way, huh? I bet you're the same kid who chased off those two idiots who told the Commander about this place. Now you think you're a hero? Well think again!" he chuckled. Ash's hands closed into fists.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail," Ash said. Pikachu engaged the attack, charging at full speed at Houndoom.

"Use Shadow Ball!" the man yelled. Houndoom shot a Shadow Ball at Pikachu, sending him flying into the air.

"Now, use Quick Attack!" Ash yelled.

"Steelix, block it!" the man yelled, throwing out another one of his Pokéballs. "Now, use Earthquake!" He yelled. Houndoom lept into the air while Steelix used Earthquake, knocking Pikachu unconscious.

"Now, use Heat Wave on this idiot!" the trainer yelled. Brock ran over to Ash as Houndoom shot a Heat Wave at Ash.

"Now, Onix, let's rock!" he shouted, throwing out Onix's Pokéball. Onix took the attack, taking minor damage.

"Ash, he doesn't have any more Pokéballs! Where's his Golbat?" Brock yelled. Ash gasped. If he didn't have it… Ash turned and ran into the cave.

Smart kid," the trainer said, "Steelix, use Iron Tail!"

"Dig!" Brock shouted.

"Spoink, use Psybeam!" Sabrina called as she ran over to help Brock fight. Ash ran down the tunnels toward the cave. He heard voices from in front of him.

"Are you sure we're heading the right way?" a male voice said.

"Of course, idiot. Golbat has echolocation abilities," another voice, this time female, said. "Wait a second… Golbat senses something behind us," she said. Suddenly, one of the grunts dashed back, slamming into Ash, knocking him into a wall.

"Drowzee, use Hypnosis!" the grunt said, throwing out Drowzee's Pokéball. Drowzee shot a beam of energy at Ash, causing him to fall asleep.

"Now," the grunt said, "we can continue."

Inside the cave, Misty was washing Vaporeon. She had been healing nicely but was still somewhat nervous around humans, even Ash. Misty was the only human who had been able to get close to her other than Melanie.

"I should be out there fighting. Even if I do only have Staryu, I could help if they would let me." she said.

Vaporeon mewed in agreement.

"You know, my mom used to train one of you before she became a gym leader. She says that's what started her love of water-types. Even though hers passed when I was a baby, without it, I'd probably not be the trainer I am today." Vaporeon nodded. Misty took a towel to dry off Vaporeon, but most of the water had already been absorbed into the Pokémon's body by its ability.

Suddenly, the curtain blocking the door was thrown aside and three Team Rocket grunts stepped in. The grunt in front threw the unconscious figure of Ash on the ground. Melanie lunged towards them, trying to defend the Pokémon.

"Drowzee, use Hypnosis again," the grunt said. Melanie fainted. Another grunt kicked her over next to Ash. Drowzee suddenly collapsed.

"Out of energy," The grunt muttered, "That Golbat's echolocation confused it." Misty stood up and threw out her Pokéball.

"Staryu, use…" she began. She didn't even finish before another grunt commanded "Use Sludge Bomb!". Golbat shot a blast of poison at Staryu, knocking it out.

"Now," the grunt said, "I'm going to take the Pokémon, unless you have any arguments." He pulled a gun out of his jacket and pointed it at Ash. Suddenly a green shape slammed into the gun, sending it flying away.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur growled, shooting a Vine Whip at the Grunts, knocking them back. It was still weakened, but limped forward to defend his friend.

Misty stood up. She couldn't let Bulbasaur fight alone. Vaporeon jumped out of the water and in front of her.

"Vaporeon…" Misty murmured in amazement. The Pokémon turned to her and nodded, waiting for her command.

"Okay then! Vaporeon, use Water Pulse!" Misty yelled. Vaporeon shot a blast of Water at Golbat.

"Why you little," the grunt growled, tuning his attention to Misty, "Use Sludge Bomb, Golbat!" Golbat shot a ball of poison at Vaporeon, who jumped into the pool of water and instantly vanished.

"What the," the grunt mumbled, before a blast of water shot out of the pool, transforming back into Vaporeon.

"Nice one, Vaporeon! Now, use Water Pulse again!" Misty yelled. Vaporeon shot another blast of water at Golbat, this time not only damaging it but confusing it. Golbat attempted to attack back, but ended up shooting the attack into the air, causing it to land on him, knocking him out.

"Go Gastly!" The grunt yelled, throwing out the Ghost-Type.

"Use Water Pulse again!" Misty yelled. Vaporeon nodded and launched the attack rapid-fire, quickly knocking out the Ghost-type.

"V-Voltorb!" the grunt stuttered, sending out another Pokémon.

"Use Spark!" he commanded. Suddenly, vines wrapped around the Voltorb, holding it still.

"Bulbasaurrr," Bulbasaur growled.

"Alright, Vaporeon, let's finish it off!" Misty said. Vaporeon leapt into the air and shot a barrage of Water Pulse attacks. She landed and charged forward, glowing white and using Quick Attack. Voltorb rolled backwards, unable to battle. Misty, Bulbasaur, and Vaporeon backed the now defenseless grunt into a wall by the door. He spun around and ran out the door.

A few minutes later, Ash woke up to see Bulbasaur standing over him looking worried.

"Hey, Bulbasaur," he groaned, "How's it going?" Bulbasaur roared in happiness as Ash woke up Melanie with an Awakening. She smiled and hugged Blubasaur as Misty explained to them what had happened. Ash had a feeling that they would be in there for a while, trying to find the exit with Golbat knocked out. He smiled.

"You did good, Misty," he said. She nodded. Vaporeon walked over to her and rubbed its head against her leg.

"It looks like that Vaporeon has taken a liking to you," Melanie said. Ash pulled a Pokéball out of his bag. Bulbasaur looked at him for a second but nodded. Ash tossed it to Misty.

"Only if it wants to," he said. Misty nodded.

"Vaporeon. I've been thinking about going on a journey, but I really didn't want to be alone. Most of my Pokémon belonged to the gym, and none of them are as strong as you are. Would... you like to be my partner?" she said, holding out the Pokéball cautiously. Vaporeon stood there for a few seconds before nodding and placing its paw on the Pokéball's activation switch. The ball clicked shut immediately.

Ash ran through the cave, being careful not to take any wrong turns. He heard voices down one of the wrong tunnels and decided to quickly follow them.

"So here's the plan. We wait until the girl forgets about us and head back in there with our party rested. We take them by surprise and steal all of the injured Pokémon," the voice said.

"Right," two other voices responded. Ash walked into a cavern where the three Team Rocket grunts stood, waiting for their Pokémon to be rested enough to battle. He stepped into the light with Bulbasaur beside him. He hadn't left his side since he had woken up.

"Alright, Bulbasaur," he said as the grunts began to panic and look for a way to escape, "use Vine Whip; hold them in place." Pikachu, who had been knocked into the tunnels by the grunts after Ash had been hit by Hypnosis, jumped back onto his shoulder.

"Alright, Pikachu. Use Thunderpunch- full power. Bulbasaur, throw them into it." Pikachu jumped into the air and charged his paw into an electrically charged Thunderpunch. Bulbasaur threw the grunts at Pikachu's fist using its Vine Whip. Pikachu slammed into all three grunts, sending them flying one by one into a cave wall.

"Find your way out of this," he said, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail." Pikachu jumped and slapped into the roof of the cavern with Iron Tail. The cavern collapsed as Ash, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur ran out of the cavern.

"They'll climb out the rubble, but they'll know better than to come back," Ash said. He walked out of the cave to see Sabrina and Brock nursing their Pokémon back to full health with items.

"How'd it go?" Ash asked. Sabrina explained what had happened outside of the cave. Sabrina had been quickly knocked out of the battle by Houndoom's Dark-Type attacks, but Brock had fought well and won the battle anyway. Zubat, who evolved into Golbat during the battle, managed to disable Steelix with its Double Team and Supersonic attacks while Onix took down his health with Dig. He had retreated after both of his Pokémon fainted.

"He said he'd be back, though," Brock finished. Ash nodded.

"So we don't leave. Not until Team Rocket stops attacking," Ash said Brock shook his head.

"Ash, you don't get it. Didn't you wonder why such powerful trainers and Pokémon were showing up to attack a tiny village? They came bacause Team Rocket can't get embarrased. We're beating them and they can't allow that. They lose this battle for a tiny little village, people hear. People start to fight. Soon, the entire organization loses control of the people through fear, making them that much more noticable. They'll never stop," he said, "that's why I'm staying here." Ash gasped.

"What?" he said, surprised, "why?" Brock frowned.

"As much fun as traveling with you and Sabrina is, you two don't need me. I'm a glorified babysitter whose job is done. As a breeder and a gym leader, I'm perfect here. I can help raise and heal the Pokémon while training them to defend us. Besides, even if the attacks are weaker after this, Bulbasaur isn't going to be around to defend this place anymore. They need me. I made a promise not long ago, and I plan on keeping it." Ash nodded. He knew that Brock was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. One thing confused him, though.

"Wait, where's Bulbasaur going?" Ash asked. Brock rolled his eyes.

"With you, of course. It's obviously taken a liking to you," he responded. Ash nealed down next to Bulbasaur

"Is that true?" He asked. Bulbasaur nodded, but then growled.

"Oh, so you want to battle first," Ash said. Bulbasaur nodded. Ash grinned.

"Well then," he said, "prepare for a challenge." Bulbasaur nodded and walked to one side of the village. Ash stood in the other.

"Pikachu, I choose you," he said. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder.

"Now you have the type advantage. No tricks, just a battle between Pokémon and trainer," he said. Bulbasaur nodded and began a Vine Whip attack.

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Ash called. Using the same strategy he had used against Brock, Pikachu jumped on top of one vine over to the other, then landed on top of Bulbasaur.

"Now, use ThunderPunch!" Ash called. Although it was not very effective, Ash grinned as he saw it paralyzed Bulbasaur.

"Alright, now launch yourself into the air with Iron Tail!" Ash called. Pikachu turned its tail into iron and planted it into the ground. He then catapulted himself into the air.

"Dive bomb him with another ThunderPunch!" Ash yelled. Bulbasaur roared in determination and began to glow white. He grew slightly larger as his bulb opened and his skin darkened.

"Ivysaur!" he roared before launching three powerful vines at Pikachu, catching him and flinging him back into the air.

"Use Iron Tail! Aim for the vines!" Ash yelled. Pikachu turned his tail to Iron and began spinning through the air, cutting through all the vines that Ivysaur generated. The attack slammed into Ivysaur's back, dazing him.

"Alright, Pokéball, go!" Ash said, throwing a Pokéball at Ivysaur. The Pokémon was sucked inside while the ball shook once, twice, then three times. The ball clicked closed.

"Yes!" Ash yelled happily, "I caught Ivysaur!" He let Ivysaur out and introduced him to the rest of his Pokémon. Ivysaur roared a greeting at Pidgeotto, Sneasel, and Butterfree. He then turned to Pikachu and shook hands with it using a vine. He then turned to Nidorino and nodded in respect. Nidorino nodded back.

Ash and Brock shook hands and parted ways. Sabrina gave him a small hug. As the two walked away, Ash noticed Misty heading in the opposite direction with Vaporeon by her side. He ran over to her.

"Hey, so you're going your own way?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna travel for a couple months, train to be stronger, then return home and see if I can win back the gym," she said. Ash reached into his jacket and pulled out his CascadeBadge. He handed it back to her.

"I want to be the first person to challenge the real Misty once she gets back," he said. She nodded and held out her hand.

"Deal," she said. Ash shook the orange-haired trainer's hair and they parted ways.

"Where do we go now?" Sabria asked, turning to look at Ash.

"I checked the map and if we head to the Pokémon center that I was going to when I discovered the village in the first place, we should find a path that takes us to Vermillion City- home of the Vermillion Gym. I've heard that the leader uses Electric Type Pokémon," he said. Sabrina nodded.

"Sounds good to me," she said. The two trainers headed off in that direction. Brock smiled as he saw the two trainers walk away together.

"Good luck, Ash." he said, before running back into the cave to help take care of the Pokémon.


	16. The Fires of Friendship

**A/N: As an apology for not being able to release a chapter yesterday (I was out of town and didn't end up having any time with my computer and wifi to release it), I'm releasing a 2nd chapter in a single day!**

 **Quick question: I, of course, plan for Misty's travels to intersect with Ash's story on a few occasions, but if you guys want more stories of our favorite Water-Type trainer, I have been considering writing a spin-off short series following her travels when they DON'T intersect with Ash's. Leave a review and let me know if you'd like to see that.**

"Face it, Ash. We're lost," Sabrina said as Ash and Sabrina walked through the trees on the very outer sections of the Viridian Forest. Ash rolled his eyes.

"No, Sabrina. I told you, we're headed in the correct direction. Even if the Pokénav has no reception in this valley, the river is right over there and it's right by the Pokémon Center, remember?" Ash said. Sabrina nodded.

"Well what if we passed it? We've been walking for two days already," she said, "and we need to get there quickly; we're not prepared for a thunderstorm like what's coming. Pikachu's cheeks have been sparking for the last hour." Ash looked at the sky. The clouds were a dark grey, threatening to dump rain on them at any moment. Pikachu's cheeks had been sparking, signifying a coming thunderstorm. He picked up his pace. As he swept another branch out of the way, he grinned as he arrived at a clearing.

"Should we make camp here, maybe?" Ash said, turning to Sabrina. She shook her head.

"I already told you, the storm is too powerful for us to take with our current supplies! Besides, we're in Spearow territory. If they find us camping here, they'll tear our tents and supplies to bits, not to mention attack us," she said.

"Wait, what's that?" Ash said, pointing at a rock jutting out of the ground near the edge of the clearing. Ash walked over and was surprised to see a Charmander lying on the rock. Its flame was rather low. Ash pulled out a Pokéball.

"I think this Charmander is injured!" he said, "I'm gonna catch it and bring it to the Pokémon Center with us." He threw the Pokéball, but it bounced off, landing back in his hand. The light on the Pokéball's activation switch blinked black twice.

"Somebody already owns it?" Ash said, surprised. "Hey! Your Charmander is over here and it's hurt!" he yelled, but after a few minutes of no response he sighed.

"We've got to keep moving. Pikachu, ask where its trainer is," Ash said. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and onto the rock and had a quick discussion with Charmander before turning back to Ash. Ash focused. He let the world fade into darkness until only he and Pikachu remained. He read Pikachu's thoughts. He saw a silhouette standing before Charmander, giving it an instruction, then smiling and walking away. He could feel the message, even though he couldn't hear the command. A command to stay, and a promise to return. He let the world fade back into perspective and nodded. The trainer would be back soon. Ash and Sabrina continued following the river, and reached the Pokémon Center right as rain began to fall. Ash relaxed on the couch in front of the fire and wondered how that Charmander was doing.

"His trainer's probably picked him up by now. He might even be in this very Pokémon Center!" Ash said to himself, but something simply felt wrong. Some annoying jock kid was bragging about how his Pokémon collection was strong enough to beat all of the wild Pokémon around on the other side of the fireplace.

"And this one here beat this one trainer's entire team without even breaking a sweat! All of his Pokémon were worthless. Almost reminds me of Charmander!" the jock said. The other trainers around him laughed, as if they were sharing an inside joke.

"Charmander?" Ash gasped, louder than he meant.

"Hey, man, if you're gonna listen in on my conversations, just come over here!" the jock said, "The name's Damian! And if you're looking for a Charmander, mine isn't the one you want. It was so weak, it got beaten by Pokémon that it should have crushed, three times in a row! I left that thing out on a rock, it was so stupid that it kept trying to follow me! It refused to understand that I didn't want it anymore! I left it out on a rock, promised I'd be back in a little while. Knowing it, it's probably still there!" Ash, whose fists were already closed in barely-controlled anger, gasped and stood up.

"Don't you care about the storm? If it's still out there, its tail could go out! It could die!" he said. Damian laughed.

"Good riddance!" he said, "that weak thing is better off dead!"

Ash lunged, grabbing Damian by the collar and forcing him against the wall. Sabrina ran over to hold him back, but Ash pushed her away.

"You know, my Pikachu was abandoned for being weak once. He's stronger than ever now, but he still has a bit of a sore spot for idiots like you," he said, his eyes glowing bright blue.

"L-let me go, man! It's just a Charmander!" Damian stuttered, struggling to free himself. Ash growled.

"Go. Back. For. It," he said, eyes glowing even brighter. Suddenly, a force pulled Ash back. The other kids listening to Damian had dogpiled him, pulling him back and giving Damian a chance to break free from his grasp.

"Break it up!" Nurse Joy yelled, noticing the fight. She ran over and pulled Ash away from the group.

"Look, I don't know what he did this time, but Damian isn't a trainer you want to mess with. He's not afraid to play dirty in or out of battle. People who mess with him or make him look bad tend to have bad things happen to them," she said. Ash nodded.

"I'm sorry, but there's something that I need to take care of," he said, turning and walking out the door into the rain. Sabrina ran after him. "Ash, wait," she said. Ash stopped and waited for her to catch up.

"Let's go."

The two trainers ran back to the clearing where they had found Charmander. Charmander had grabbed a leaf from the bushes and was using it to attempt to block the raindrops, but the fire was growing low. Suddenly, a flock of Spearow flew out of the trees, swooping towards Charmander.

"It's the Spearow! They think that Charmander is intruding on their territory!" Sabrina shouted.

"Spoink, use Psybeam!" She yelled, reaching for Spoink's Pokéball. It wasn't there.

"Our Pokémon are still resting at the center!" Ash yelled, but a happy "Pika Pika!" from his shoulder reminded him that his faithful partner was still with him.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Ash yelled. Pikachu leapt off of his perch and used Electro Ball into the ground, sending sparks everywhere that conducted the rain, shocking the birds.

"Quick! Grab Charmander! I'll keep his flame lit!" Ash said, taking off his jacket and using it to cover Charmander's flame. Together, Sabrina and Ash made their way back to the Pokémon Center and gave Charmander to Nurse Joy.

"First you pick a fight with another trainer in my Pokémon Center, then you bring me this?" Nurse Joy said angrily, "What kind of trainer are you?" Ash shook his head.

"No, Nurse Joy. This isn't my Charmander, it's Damian's," he responded, "he abandoned it in the rain and it stayed there waiting for him." Nurse Joy nodded in understanding.

"Right. I'm going to take this one into intensive care. You two dry off," she said. Ash sat next to the intensive care room with a towel wrapped around him, waiting for news on Charmander. Sneasel curled up next to him and Pikachu lay on his lap. Two hours later, Nurse Joy walked out and let Ash come in to see Charmander.

"I had Chansey go get Damian, but he must have left after that fight you two had," she said. Charmander was awake, but very stressed.

"Hey," Ash said, walking up to him and returning Sneasel to keep the unfamiliar Pokémon from frightening Charmander. Charmander looked at him and smiled.

"Nurse Joy says that after a good night's rest you should be ready to go, Charmander," he continued.

"Nurse Joy nullified your Pokéball after you got here, after what Damian did. She also submitted his Trainer's License for consideration for suspension. If you want, I can give you directions to a place where you can hang out and train for a little. Maybe then you can find a new trainer." Charmander shook his head and pointed towards the door. Ash shook his head.

"You want to go after Damian, don't you?" he asked. Charmander nodded. Although Charmander's loyalty was to be expected considering it almost died to obey a command, it still made Ash concerned.

"Look Charmander," Ash said sadly, "Damian betrayed you and abandoned you. He's not a good person and he's not your friend." Charmander closed its eyes, shook its head, and put its head on the pillow. It didn't respond to another thing Ash said.

"I'm sorry," Ash said as he walked out of the room. He headed to his room and went to sleep.

The next morning, Nurse Joy ran up to him as he entered the lobby. "Ash! It's Charmander! He's gone!" she said. Ash gasped. Sabrina was already in the lobby, packed for another day of travel.

"There's another storm on the way and Charmander will be looking for Damian," she said, "we don't want him finding Damian or getting stuck in the rain again." Ash shook his head. He knew where Charmander would be. He ran back towards the clearing. While about to reach the clearing, a net caught under Ash and Sabrina, flinging them up into the trees.

"Hahahaha! We have you now, twerp!" A voice called. Team Rocket stepped out of the bushes, reciting their motto.

"This time, the net is made out of pure metal! You can't get out by cutting it now! And if you try to shock us with Pikachu, you get shocked!" she said, "now, we're just going to take Pikachu!" Meowth pressed a button and the net opened a small hole. Pikachu dropped out and was caught in a metal cage covered with rubber. The hatch in the top closed and Pikachu was trapped inside.

"The boss isn't happy with you, twerp! We managed to get him to put us on the job of taking our revenge! Now, we've got your Pikachu, and there ain't a thing you can do about it!" Meowth said, "Now, to take the rest of your Pokémon!" Suddenly, a shape walked out of the clearing. It was Charmander, who observed the situation with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"Charmander, run away! These guys are really bad and they'll take you and hurt you!" Ash yelled. Charmander looked at the situation in front of him. A Pokémon and two humans were holding the Pikachu who had defended him from the Spearow in a cage while the boy and girl who had helped him when he was hurt were swinging in a net in the trees. The boy had said that his trainer and friend had betrayed him, but he refused to believe that. He had been chosen by Damian to travel around the region. Damian wouldn't just abandon him! Or would he?

Charmander's mind was racing. This boy had saved his life. Damian had known his tail would go out in the rain, but he hadn't come back. The nurse who healed him had said Damian had ran away after fighting the boy. Could that be true? Damian had been so mad at him after he had lost the last few battles; he always demanded perfection. This trainer had been kind and had supported him. Now the boy was telling him to leave and abandon him to the mercy of these criminals. He grit his teeth. He was a Pokémon of the Charizard line- the mighty dragon. He was strong.

Charmander began to glow. He grew taller as his hands grew small but sharp claws. His skin darkened and his friendly expression turned into a determined smirk. He opened his mouth and shot a powerful Flamethrower attack at Team Rocket. They dropped Pikachu's cage in shock and were sent flying into the air.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The Trio yelled as they flew out of sight. "Charmeleon!" the Pokémon roared.

"Charmeleon! You evolved! Now can you help us down from here?" Ash said. Charmeleon shot a small blast of flame at the net, melting it and releasing Ash and Sabrina. Ash unlocked the cage and took out Pikachu.

"Charmeleon, you're free to do whatever you want. If you really want to go after Damian, I'm sure he'll take you back now that you've become this powerful. But if you want, there's space on my team," Ash said. He held out his hand. Charmeleon looked down the road for a second, then placed his hand in Ash's. Ash held out a Pokéball and Charmeleon tapped the button. He was sucked inside. It clicked shut. The Pokéball transformed into light and shot into the air. Ash ran back to the Pokémon Center, to the phone, and called Professor Oak.

"Hey, Professor! Can I send you Butterfree for a bit for you to look after so I can get Chameleon over here?" Ash asked. Professor Oak nodded.

"Right, Ash. I'll begin the transfer now," he said. Ash placed Butterfree's Pokéball on the transfer plate and watched as Professor Oak did the same on the other side. The Pokéball transformed into light and disappeared into a tube. Another Pokéball came down the tube. He opened the Pokéball and let Charmeleon out.

"Welcome to the team!" Ash said. Charmeleon grinned.

As the two walked out of the door of the Pokémon Center with Sabrina not far behind, Ash smiled. He had now met and caught two of the three starter Pokémon from the Kanto region. They had both evolved, and soon he would challenge the Vermillion Gym and win a second gym badge. He returned Charmeleon as he walked. His mind went to Kyle and how Damian had reminded him of the reason he was traveling in the first place.

"I won't lose to you," he muttered, "I'll get my eight badges and beat you at the Pokémon League so that I can show the world the real you." As Sabrina caught up to him, the two looked up the path. Ash's Pokénav+ had regained reception and they had only one more town to go through before reaching Vermillion. Ash smiled and began to run.


	17. Here Comes the Squirtle Squad!

"Crap!" Ash yelled as he tripped, slamming his face into the earth. Sabrina chuckled and helped him up.

"Next time, try watching where you're going," she said. Ash grinned.

"What? We're almost to the final town before Vermilion. I'm excited!" he said, "wait a second." Suddenly, a pit trap opened underneath him and Sabrina, sending them tumbling into the ground. Five Squirtles poked their heads over the rim and looked down at him.

"Ivysaur, use Vine Whip," Ash said, letting Ivysaur out of his Pokéball. Ivysaur created a ladder out of vines up to the top of the pit, smacking one of the Squirtle in the face. He fell over and covered his face as his sunglasses broke. He growled, but fled as he heard sirens coming from the town. As Ash crawled out of the pit, he saw Officer Jenny pull up on her motorcycle.

"So close!" she said, "Oh, here, let me help you out." She helped Sabrina out of the hole and smiled.

"Sorry for the rush. I'm on the trail of the Squirtle Squad. They're this group of Squirtles who have kind of congregated around this town. We think their trainers released them," she said. She picked up a broken piece of the sunglasses Ivysaur's Vine Whip had broken.

"You hit their leader. It's not going to be happy about that. I suggest you get through and out of this town as soon as possible. The Squad will be looking for you." Jenny said. Meanwhile, Team Rocket was walking along a river, picking apples from the trees.

"I can't believe the boss cut off our food money for a week, just because we lost that metal net!" Meowth said, "we still gotta eat!" He reached up and plucked a bright blue berry out of the trees. Suddenly, the berry slid down and revealed itself to be a Squirtle hanging in a tree. Four more slid down. All were wearing sunglasses, although one's pair was broken.

"Hey, we don't want any trouble," Meowth said, "We just need some food." The five Squirtles dropped down from the trees and the one with the broken sunglasses began talking with Meowth.

"My humans? Ah, right. These dopes. They're a little dim, but they do their job."

"Squirtle squirt squirt?"

"Hey, that sounds like the twerp."

"Squirtle tul tul!"

"He broke your sunglasses?"

"Squirtle!"

"Well you got a friend in me! I'll just explain the situation with my humans and we can get to work taking our revenge on a mutual enemy." Meowth turned to James and Jessie and escorted them a safe distance away.

"Okay, here's the deal. Those Squirtles have some beef with the twerps and I've offered to help them. They don't trust humans, so I've told them that I own you. If you go along with it, we can trick them into helping us steal the twerp's Pokémon!" he explained. The two criminals grinned and nodded.

"Right then," Jessie said, "let's do this." A few minutes later, the Pokémon put their plan into action. Ash and Sabrina were walking down the path. Ash stopped by a river to get a drink. Suddenly, a Squirtle popped his head out of the water and shot a Water Gun into his face.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball," he growled. Pikachu leapt into the air, but three Squirtle shot a blast of water from the trees on the other side of the path, sending Pikachu into the water. A Goldeen who inhabited the water attacked Pikachu, sending him flying back to shore. A blast suddenly erupted from the ground, where Team Rocket had dropped a bomb from their balloon. Ash flew backward and felt himself lose consciousness. Ash woke up in a cave. He was tied to a rock and Pikachu was in a cage nearby, badly injured. The last thing he remembered was a large bang and Pikachu going flying. Team Rocket laughed from another section of the cave.

"Now we've got you!" Ash growled.

"Team Rocket! Why am I not surprised?" he said.

"Ash, Pikachu's hurt!" Sabrina said, "He needs a Super Potion, but we used our last one yesterday!". Ash looked at Pikachu. He was knocked out, lying on his belly with legs spread out. His breathing was labored.

"Squirtles, please let me go to town and buy a Super Potion for Pikachu! He's one of my best friends!" Ash pleaded. The Squirtle with broken sunglasses shook his head and said something to Meowth. Meowth turned to Ash and laughed.

"Do you think that these Squirtles are going to trust you after you attacked their leader? They're not letting you out of their sight!" Tears began to fall from Ash's eyes as they glowed blue.

"Please, Squirtle. Believe me. See through my eyes." The blue glow of Ash's eyes grew brighter as Squirtle's eyes began to glow as well. Squirtle nodded and the glow died down.

"Thank you," Ash said. Four Squirtle and Meowth watched Ash walk away.

"Now remember, if you're not back by sundown, the blue-haired girl gets it!" Meowth said as Ash nodded and ran out of the door. He acted like he was just going to get help and get back, but he knew that Team Rocket didn't do teamwork, so he knew that something was up.

Squirtle walked away from his group as the rest of the Squirtle Squad allowed the boy to leave. He had no idea what had just happened, but it concerned him. He refused to trust the boy after he had broken his sunglasses, but he had seen into the boy's heart and it seemed pure and without dark intentions. If anything, it seemed like he wanted to help. His hand reached up and touched the broken sunglasses that he still wore. He remembered how he had obtained them. The Squirtle Squad had just formed and had robbed a random souvenir shop in town. He had grabbed the last pair of black sunglasses while the rest grabbed the blue circular ones they now wore. After beating the leading member of the squad in a battle, he won the right to lead the Squirtle Squad. He hung his head. If he gave in on this matter, he might lose the favor of the Squirtle Squad.

Ash quickly reached town and headed to the store. As he entered, he noticed Team Rocket standing in the town's center.

"The Squirtle Squad are a menace that have plagued this town for too long!" Jessie yelled. The town yelled out in agreement.

"We here at Team Removal will get rid of those pesky Squirtle for good!... for a small fee, of course," James said. Ash ran into the town center.

"Don't trust them! They're criminals!" Ash yelled.

"Oh, I'm insulted!" Jessie said, "We come here offering to rid this town of a menace, and this boy calls us criminals!"

"Give it up, Jessie! We both know that you're a part of Team Rocket!"

"Oh, can't you hear? The uniform is an unfortunate coincidence. We're Team Removal!"

"Pokémon troubles?"

"Call us on the double,"

"To protect the world from pesky Pokémon,"

"When you call us you know they'll get gone,"

"To denounce the evils of pranks and tricks,"

"For a small fee they'll quickly be nixed,"

"Jenny!"

"And Jacob!"

"Team Removal gets the job done at the speed of light!"  
"So call us now and we'll win the fight!"

Ash rolled his eyes, but the people around him started to murmur in agreement. Ash turned and stormed off in the other direction. He headed back towards the cave where the Squirtle were holding his friends, Super Potion in hand. His argument with Team Rocket had put him behind schedule. If he didn't hurry, he wouldn't get back in time. As he exited town, he noticed something in a gift shop window. He turned and entered the building, grabbing the object and buying it, sticking it in has backpack as he left.

As Ash arrived at the cave, he rushed into the entrance. He heard Meowth talking to the Squirtles inside.

"The twerp's not coming back! He's late, and it's time for him to face the consequences!" he said.

"Squirtle Squirt!"

"What do you mean you were bluffing? You're letting this human walk all over you!"

"Squirtle!"

"Fine then, I'm gonna challenge you to a battle! If I win, I'll be leader of the Squirtle Squad from now on!"

"Squirtle?"

"Oh, you say that I can't because I'm not a Squirtle? Well what do your fine friends think?"

"...Squirtle."

"See? They agree with me. Now let's battle!"

Ash stepped into the cave and saw that the leader of the Squirtle Squad and Meowth were facing off. As they battled, Ash made his way to Pikachu and sprayed the Super Potion. Pikachu's injuries quickly faded. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder as he turned to watch the battle. Squirtle launched a Water Gun, but Meowth jumped over and attacked with Fury Swipes from behind. Squirtle spun in the air, but Meowth caught his foot and knocked him onto his back. Squirtle struggled to get up. Meowth charged forward, using Fury Swipes. Ash stepped forward and felt his reflexes kick in.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun on that wall!" Squirtle looked at him quizzically, then saw his goal. He followed the command. The blast of water caused him to spin, hitting Meowth before launching Squirtle towards the wall.

"Now, use Withdraw!" Ash called. Squirtle nodded and went into his shell, launching into the air and exiting his shell on his feet.

"And now you're taking orders from a human? Shame on you!" Meowth said. Squirtle growled and charged forward, using Tackle on Meowth.

"That's it! Jessie, James, we're moving to plan B!"

Suddenly, the floor imploded as bombs set underneath it exploded. The Squirtle standing against the wall fell into a metal net. The leader tumbled and fell to one side and landed on top of Ash, who rolled to one side as rocks fell down, barely avoiding the assault of debris. As the roof of the cave collapsed, Meowth grabbed the net with the Squirtle inside and tied it to the balloon as it rose into the air, taking the Squirtle with it.

"No!" Ash groaned, struggling to stand up. Squirtle stood up, looking into the air to where the balloon was floating away. He walked over to Ash.

"Are you alright, Squirtle?" Ash asked. He struggled to stand, but he was definitely injured. Squirtle placed his hand on Ash's arm and closed his eyes. Rings of glowing clear water formed around Squirtle. Another one formed around Ash. He felt the pain on his body fade.

"Thank you, Squirtle," he said. Squirtle nodded, then pointed to the balloon. Ash stood up and reached for a Pokéball, before realizing that he still didn't have his Pokémon.

"Ash!" a voice called from above him. Sabrina's face poked over the edge of the pit.

"I'm alright," Ash said, standing up, "But Team Rocket has my Pokémon, and the Squirtle!"

"Abra, get them out of there!" Sabrina said, throwing out a Pokéball. The yellow Pokémon appeared and teleported into the crater, retrieving Squirtle, Ash, and Pikachu. Once out of the crater, Ash immediately ran in the direction of the balloon. Squirtle followed behind as Pikachu grabbed onto his trainer's shoulder to keep from falling off. The two reached a hill and when they reached the top they saw the balloon floating away into the distance. On the balloon, the criminals were debating.

"But Jess, we already stole all the rest of the twerp's Pokémon supply, plus the Squirtle Squad!" James said, "do we really need to capture the Pikachu as well?"

"Of course, James!" Jessie said, "The entire point of chasing the twerps was to catch that Pikachu to make the kid pay for stopping our plans! If we don't get our goal, what's the point?"

"Well to be honest, Jessie, I agree with James on this one. The twerps will try to save the others if we get close, so why try?" Meowth said. Jessie's hand closed around his tail.

"I say we're going back, so we're going back. Got it?" She growled. Meowth scrambled to get her hand off his tail.

"Got it, got it, okay!" Meowth said, "I change my vote!"

"Right then! Let's go get that Pikachu!"

As Ash watched, the balloon turned around and floated back towards him. A blast echoed from the balloon as a missile launcher was poked over the basket, launching at the trainer. Ash was thrown backwards along with Squirtle as flames erupted around them, heading for the trees and toward town. As the balloon floated toward Ash, it suddenly shot into the air, losing control as the hot air from the flames interfered with its movement. The balloon popped and Team Rocket was sent flying into the sky. The net of Squirtle fell out of the sky and into the trees nearby.

"Team Rocket's Blasting off again!" the criminals yelled. A figure plummeted from the balloon as Meowth landed on the ground, bracing itself for battle. Ash's belt was strapped around him like a sash.

"Let's finish this," the cat growled, unsheathing its claws. Squirtle stepped forward.

"Squirtle!" he called, getting into a battle stance.

"I'm going to go get the Squirtle!" Ash said, running into the woods. He covered his face as the flames rose. The heat was starting to be unbearable as he found the net. He quickly untied it, freeing the Squirtle.

"Squirtles! The forest is going to burn down if you don't help us! Please, can you use your Water attacks to help put out the fire?" Ash asked. The Squirtles nodded. They didn't want all the Pokémon in the forest to go without a home. They knew all too well how bad that felt. Ash ran back to the scene of the battle between Squirtle and Meowth. The two fought hard to defeat the other, but neither would give an inch. The flames closed in around them.

"Squirtle, we've got to go!" Ash yelled. Squirtle shook his head and turned back to the battle. Ash watched as the battle continued. Squirtle charged towards Meowth, using Water Gun at its feet to keep it off balance. Meowth leapt into the air and Squirtle grabbed for Ash's belt, stealing it away from Meowth before using Tackle to send Meowth flying towards the fire.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt," Ash said. Pikachu shocked Meowth and sent him flying after his partners. Ash grabbed Squirtle and ducked through the fire, but it continued to close in around him. Squirtle jumped out of Ash's arms and used Water Gun to hold back the flames, but time was running out.

"Squirtle-squirt!" Squirtle called. Suddenly, blasts of water came from the other side, putting out a path in the flames.

"Squirtle!" The four other members of the Squirtle Squad said, smiling.

"Thank you, all five of you. Now, let's put out this fire!" Ash said. Together, the five Squirtle made a circle around Ash, each using Water Gun on each section of the fire. Soon, the flames began to die down. Ash saw the Squirtles tense as the figure of Officer Jenny ran up to Ash.

"Kid, are you alright?" She asked, "did those Squirtle cause this?"

"Officer, you've got it all wrong," Ash said, shaking his head, "They saved me. Team Rocket started the fire with a bomb when they tried to catch my Pikachu. The Squirtles are the only reason these woods are still here!" Ash said.

"Really?" the officer asked, sceptical.

"Yeah. They're heroes," Ash replied. The officer nodded thoughtfully.

"You should be glad this trainer's here," She said, "I would have blamed you for this!"

The group returned to the town where Ash told his story. Sabrina was extremely relieved when she saw him safe.

"And that's why we don't go running off alone," Sabrina said.

"Right, Sabrina. Sorry," he said, turning back to Officer Jenny's announcement.

"And that's why I'd like to offer these five Squirtle a home as the town's official firefighters!" she announced. Ash applauded as the five Squirtle conversed among themselves, then turned to the officer and nodded.

After packing up to leave, Ash pulled something out of his backpack and gasped.

"I almost forgot!" he said, running to the police station.

"Squirtle!" he said. Sure enough, the leader of the Squad walked up to him.

"In all the excitement, I forgot to give you these," Ash said. He pulled out the pair of sunglasses that he had purchased at the souvenir shop. Squirtle grinned, slipping off the broken pair and putting on the new one. He nodded in acceptance. Ash turned to leave.

"Squirtle, Squirt!" Ash heard. He turned around and Squirtle was in a combat stance.

"Hey, it's you! What did you do to upset Squirtle?" Officer Jenny said, walking into the room.

"Nothing! I just gave him a new pair of glasses to replace the ones I broke!" Ash said.

"Then… he must want to battle you to prove your worth as a trainer," the officer said.

"Is that right, Squirtle?" Ash asked. The Turtle nodded.

The trainer and the Pokémon made their way to a battlefield behind the Police Station used for training. Squirtle took his position on one side of the battlefield as Ash stepped into the trainer's box on the other.

"Pikachu, you're up," Ash said. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and onto the battlefield.

Squirtle lunged forward, attacking with Tackle.

"Dodge and use Quick Attack!" Ash called. Pikachu jumped to the side and slammed into Squirtle with his Quick Attack. Squirtle flew backwards, landing on his feet and attacking with a Water Gun.

"Use that water to your advantage! Use Electro Ball!"

Pikachu shot an Electro Ball that skimmed along the top of the Water Gun, electrifying it and shocking Squirtle. He shook off the attack, but the ball of electricity slammed into him, sending him flying backwards.

"Finish it off with Electro Ball!" Ash called. The 2nd ball of electricity flew towards Squirtle. Squirtle jumped out of the way.

"Quick Attack, now!" Ash commanded. Pikachu rushed forward, but Squirtle used Withdraw to minimize the damage. He flew into the air and popped out of his shell.

"Use Electro Ball on him while he's in the air!" Ash yelled. Pikachu shot the ball of electricity at Squirtle who spun in the air then growled, hands together as an orb of water formed, shooting into Pikachu's orb of electricity. The two combined and flew toward Pikachu, exploding and sending him flying backwards. Pikachu stood up, shaken but still able to battle. He stumbled confusedly forward.

"Snap out of it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled as Pikachu stumbled back and forth on the field.

"Use Electro Ball!" Ash called. Pikachu stumbled and used a less powerful Electro Ball into the ground, hurting himself from the impact. Squirtle charged forward using a Tackle attack.

"Come on, Pikachu! Focus! Use Iron Tail!" Ash yelled. Pikachu's eyes focused on his target, snapping out of confusion. His tail glowed and transformed into metal, slamming into Squirtle as he approached. Squirtle rolled backwards and fell to the ground, unable to battle.

"Good battle, Squirtle," Ash said, using a Potion to heal the Pokémon's injuries. Squirtle jumped towards Ash's bag, pulling out a Pokéball.

"Do you… want to come with me?" Ash asked. Squirtle nodded. Ash held out the Pokéball and Squirtle pressed the activation button, getting sucked inside. The ball clicked shut and glowed, transforming into light and flying into the air.

"Congratulations," Officer Jenny said, having been watching the battle from the sidelines. After transferring out Nidorino for Squirtle, Ash headed to the police station. Squirtle spent about an hour talking with his friends about his decision, handing leadership of the squad over to another Squirtle. He then returned to Ash's side.

"Ready to go?" Ash asked. Squirtle nodded.

"Return," Ash said, holding out the Pokéball. The Squirtle Squad waved goodbye as Ash and Sabrina went on their way.

"We should be arriving in Vermillion soon. Are you ready?" Sabrina asked.

"You bet," Ash said. He grinned. He had caught three new Pokémon in just a few days, and soon he would be challenging his third gym. He wasn't going to lose.


	18. The Sting of Defeat

"Welcome to the Vermillion Gym, kid. Are you ready to battle?" a man said as Ash entered the gym.

"Sir, I'm just here to sign up for a battle," Ash said, "I don't have a reservation."

"Ah, come on, kid. This won't take long."

"Well, I'm not one to turn down a battle. What are the rules here?"

"This'll be a one-on-one battle. Seeing as you have a Pikachu, I think I'll use this guy!"

The man threw a Pokéball out. It burst open to reveal Pikachu's evolved form- Raichu.

"I only recently caught Raichu here, but nobody's beaten him since I evolved him. He'll be more than a match for any of your puny team," the man said.

"Well if you're going to use a Raichu, I'll use…"

"Pika!" Pikachu cried, leaping onto the battlefield.

"You want to battle Raichu, huh?" Ash asked. Pikachu nodded, cheeks sparking with electricity.

"Works for me. Let's show this guy what we're made of."

A referee took his position in the referee's box.

"The battle between Ash Ketchum- the Challenger and Lt. Surge- the Vermillion Gym Leader will now commence!" the referee said.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!"

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!"

The two electric mice shot their primary electric attacks. The ball of electricity was destroyed by the bolt, which slammed into Pikachu, shocking him.

"Shake it off, buddy! Use Agility!" Pikachu glowed white and increased his speed.

"Thunderbolt, Raichu!" Surge commanded.

"Dodge it!" Ash yelled. Raichu shot a bolt of electricity at Pikachu, who leapt out of the way.

"Now, use Quick Attack!" Ash yelled. Pikachu charged forward, engulfed in white light as his Quick Attack took form.

"Shock Wave, Raichu!" Surge countered. Raichu shot a wave of electricity, throwing Pikachu backward.

"Now, use Mega Punch!"

Raichu's fist glowed as it slammed into the already dazed Pikachu, sending him flying into a wall.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Raichu wins! The winner is Lt. Surge!" the referee said.

Ash walked over to Pikachu, who suddenly turned and dashed out of the gym.

"Pikachu, wait!" Ash yelled. He exited the gym, but the Mouse Pokémon was nowhere in sight.

Ash returned to the Pokémon Center, hoping that his friend would be there.

"You battled him, didn't you?" Sabrina asked.

"Yeah…"

"And you lost?"

"Yeah. His Raichu took Pikachu down without breaking a sweat. Pikachu… didn't exactly take the loss very well."

"Really?"

"I've told you Pikachu's history… I don't think he's ever lost to another electric-type before."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. He ran off. I tried to sense him, but he's hiding his aura from me."

"He can do that?"

"Apparently. Usually, when a Pokémon gets angry, I can't accurately connect with them. Back when I was chasing after Nidorino when he was a Nidoran, I could sense his aura calling to me from farther away. Pikachu's connected with me so many times he must have found a way to hide his aura."

"I'll ask around and see if I can spot him. You check in with Nurse Joy."

In a construction yard on the outskirts of the city, Pikachu stood facing a metal beam. Rain began to fall as he trained harder. He had to win. He had to. He charged his Electro Ball as he sensed a lightning bolt approaching. As the bolt sped for the metal beams, his Electro Ball launched, colliding with it in the air. The Electro Ball dispersed as the bolt struck the building. Pikachu growled, gripping its side in pain, waiting for another strike.

"So you haven't seen him?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid not, young man," Nurse Joy responded, "but I'll keep my eyes open. If he's lost a battle recently, he can't be very well."

"I'm going to go look for him," Ash said.

"Wait. If he's looking to get more powerful, there is a 2nd option." Nurse Joy said, pulling a box from behind the desk.

"Lt. Surge's Pokémon is so powerful because it's the evolved form of Pikachu. If your Pokémon wants to defeat him, It may have to use this," she said. Ash opened the box and a small, rough stone was inside.

"A ThunderStone," Ash said.

"It'll make your Pikachu evolve into Raichu," Nurse Joy explained.

"Yeah, but once he does that…"

"There's no going back."

Ash nodded, slipping the box into his pocket.

"I'll think about it. Thank you, Nurse Joy."

Ash ran out the door. He covered his face as the rain battered against him.

"Ash!" Sabrina called.

"Any sign of him?" Ash asked.

"No! You?"

"No!"

"The storm's getting worse! It's freaking out all the Electric types! A lot of them are getting really aggressive!"

"I'm going to keep looking for Pikachu! You go heal up your team!"

"Right!"

Ash walked through town. Most people were already inside. The storm had blown in off the coast and many travelers had been stranded. He looked up to the sky and noticed flashes of yellow coming from a nearby construction site.

"Pikachu!" Ash called, reaching the site. Standing on the scaffolding was Pikachu, who saw Ash and ran farther up the tower. Ash turned his hat backwards and grabbed onto the scaffolding, climbing up. Pikachu continued to jump from beam to beam, avoiding meeting his trainer's eyes, only stopping when he reached a dead end on the edge of a beam.

"Pikachu, you're going to hurt yourself!" Ash yelled. He had never seen his Pokémon this upset.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu called. Ash gasped as three Magneton floated up to face Pikachu, attracted by the metal and electricity in the area.

"Pikachu, look out!" Ash yelled. Pikachu growled, launching an Electro Ball at the Pokémon. It hit them, but they shook it off. Two launched a ThunderBolt, while the third launched a Thunder attack. Pikachu jumped out of the way of the Thunderbolts, but the Thunder rode on the raindrops, striking Pikachu.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried, sliding across the scaffolding and falling onto the level Ash was standing.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, running over. Pikachu growled, refusing to meet his eyes. The Magneton flew towards them, shooting ThunderBolt attacks. Ash leapt in front. His body surged with energy as he was shocked. He fell next to his Pokémon.

"Look at me, Pikachu. Calm down. We fight together. Remember that," Ash said, holding out his hand. Pikachu looked at him and placed his hand, nodding. The bolts headed towards the two as Pikachu launched forward with Iron Tail, catching the electricity and flinging it into the Magneton, sending one flying backwards. Pikachu glowed white as it swung its paw at them, throwing them backwards. Ash blacked out as the battle continued.

"Ash, wake up!" Sabrina said, shaking him. Pikachu stood next to him, exhausted. Ash opened his eyes.

"I… I guess that taking three Thunderbolt attacks wasn't my brightest move ever," Ash groaned, standing up.

"Let's get you two to the Center," Sabrina said, pulling out a Pokéball, "Abra, teleport!"

After a day of rest, both Ash and Pikachu recovered.

"The nurse says that Pikachu still has some injuries from the battle, but we can wait a day or two before challenging Surge again," Ash said, sitting on the couch next to Sabrina.

"So we just hang out here?" Sabrina asked.

"Right. There's plenty of sights to see." Ash said.

"I guess so. I could use a day at the beach now that the storms have passed." Sabrina remarked.

"But after that, Lt. Surge is going down, and Pikachu's going to be the one to help me do it." Ash said, smiling.


	19. Sneasel's Day

Ash sat on a bench next to the Pokémon Center's training field and watched his Pokémon work. Charmeleon, Squirtle, and Ivysaur all fought hard in a battle royale. Despite its less evolved state, he was proud of Squirtle's ability to keep up. He had quickly allied with Ivysaur and the two were managing to force back the formidable force presented by Charmeleon. Pidgeotto flew into the sky and swooped at targets set on the ground, training accuracy and speed. Pikachu was still resting next to Sneasel, who watched the battlers with avid interest. Suddenly, Ash saw a flash of white as Sneasel leapt forward, attacking Pidgeotto with a burst of cold energy as it hit a target.

"Ice Shard?" Ash asked, scanning the attack with his Pokédex to be sure. Once his guess was confirmed correct, he smiled. Sneasel was finally ready to train.

"You guys take a break," he said, calling to the rest of his team, "I want to take some time to train with Sneasel." His Pokémon nodded and returned to the sidelines. Ash set up some training dummies and turned to his new Pokémon.

"Alright, Sneasel. Show me what you can do."

Sneasel nodded and stood still when, suddenly, its claws glowed white and seemed to grow slightly larger.

"So he's got Hone Claws," Ash murmured, taking notes. Sneasel charged forward, releasing a series of swipes into the dummies. "And Scratch…"

"Now, try using Ice Shard again!" Ash called. Sneasel nodded and focused, but the attack seemed to fail. It tried again and Ash felt a slight chill, but then suddenly Sneasel found its feet trapped in a sheet of ice that had formed underneath it. It shouted in frustration before slashing its feet free and running off.

"Pidgeotto, follow him. Keep your distance and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. Try to stay in range of my aura." Ash said. Pidgeotto nodded and took off into the air, following after the frustrated baby.

Sneasel stormed into an alleyway, sitting down on top of a wooden box and sharpening his claws. Pidgeotto perched himself on the edge of the alleyway and obediently watched Sneasel as the Dark-Type stood up and slashed into the crates, creating light marks in the surface. He continued to sharpen his claws, watching as the scratches got deeper and more focused after every sharpening. He focused and tried to use Ice Shard, only for a solid sheet of ice to appear in front of it, that it collided with, then angrily slashed apart.

After Sneasel seemed to calm down, Ash stepped into the alley.

"Sneasel. You may not have mastered Ice Shard yet, but we can always keep working on that. For now, you've got Scratch attack and Hone Claws. We can keep training those until you get stronger," he said. Sneasel turned away.

"Sneasel, you're going to need to get stronger if you want to master your attacks, and boxes aren't going to give you the challenge you need to get there," Ash said. Sneasel turned around and sighed.

"Come with me," Ash said.

"Hey, Ash!" Sabrina said when she saw him walking down the boardwalk at the beach, "How're you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty well, but I need some help. Have you seen any Krabby around lately?"

"I think I saw some over those rocks over there," she said, "but are you sure Sneasel is ready to take on other Pokémon? He's still so little." Sneasel growled.

"Sneasel can do it," Ash said, "I need to treat him like any other Pokémon I have, and I need to see his battling style in action if I want to learn how to train him"

Ash crossed over the rocks and looked out over the beach. Nobody was swimming, but several Krabby were moving around the beach, searching for food left by humans.

"Perfect. Sneasel, I want you to choose your own target. Try to take down as many on the beach as you can. Hone your claws, then use Scratch. Sneasel nodded, sharpening his claws. He leapt into the air, aiming for a nearby Krabby. He slashed into it and sent it flying backwards. The Krabby landed and charged forward. Sneasel charged straight forward, taking the attack, flying backwards.

"Sneasel, you're faster than it! Dodge the attacks and you'll win!" Ash suggested. Sneasel shook his head and continued his assault, not bothering to dodge enemy attacks.

"Sneasel, that strategy won't work! You need to dodge!"

Sneasel shook his head and kept on attacking. If this kept up, he was going to lose!

"Sneasel, return!" Ash called, holding out his Pokéball. Sneasel jumped away from the beam, refusing to return.

"Oh, so now you dodge," Ash muttered. Sneasel was getting more and more injured and frantic as the battle went on. Ash pulled out Pokéball.

"Pokéball, go!" Ash yelled, throwing it at the Krabby, hoping it was weak enough for capture. It shook several times then clicked closed. Sneasel turned and glared at him.

"Sneasel, every Pokémon has to dodge sometimes. You are strong and fast, but your defenses are limited at best. I'm your trainer. You need to listen to me," Ash said. Sneasel shook his head and dashed away. Ash frowned and sat down.

"Bad day?" Sabrina asked, noticing him sitting sadly on a rock.

"I just don't know how to get through to Sneasel," Ash said.

"Ash, you're one of the most skilled trainers I've ever met. You've convinced a stubborn gym leader to change her ways, fought gangs of criminals, organized an entire villiage into a fighting force capable of fighting off Team Rocket. If anybody can show that Sneasel how to be strong, it's you. You just have to make it see that." she said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"But I've been trying. It refuses to listen to my orders."

"Well, it's never battled before. All of your other Pokémon, even if they've never had a trainer before, they've battled before. You learn their battling style and hone it, but for this to work you need to teach Sneasel how to battle. It needs you."

Ash nodded.

"I'm going to try again."

In the woods, Sneasel stood in a clearing. He sharpened his claws as he carved marks into a tree.

"Sneasel," Ash said, stepping forward, "I want you to attack me." Sneasel looked at him, suspicious and confused.

"I know you're mad at me for interrupting your battle, so attack me!" Ash said. Sneasel shook his head and turned away.

"Go ahead, you probably won't do too much damage, anyway!" Ash taunted. Sneasel growled. Spun around, and charged forward. Ash leapt to one side, dodging the attack. Sneasel turned and charged again. Ash jumped as Sneasel approached, allowing Sneasel to go under him before landing, spinning around, and pushing Sneasel over. Sneasel turned and yelled angrily at him.

"I'm able to dodge your head-on attacks by moving slowly. You've got the speed to take down any Pokémon, just speed up your moves and make them more unpredictable. Attack from all sides, never make the same move twice," Ash advised. Sneasel nodded, charging from one side to the other, Ash leapt to another side, but Sneasel slid and spun on his foot, slamming into Ash and sending him to the ground.

"Great, Sneasel!" Ash said. Sneasel stopped, then grinned.

"Sneasel-Snea!" The Pokémon said, hugging Ash's leg.

"I know it's not going to be easy, but we're going to make you the best battler we can," Ash said, patting his head. Sneasel nodded as Ash took out Sneasel's Pokéball.

"Now, return," he said. He returned Sneasel and walked back to town, smiling.


	20. Return! Vermilion City Gym!

"So, back for more?" Lt. Surge said as Ash stepped into the gym.

"You know it," Ash said.

"Well, I gave you your shot for a 1-Pokémon battle. Let's make this one a bit more fun. 3-on-3 scare you too much?"

"I'm ready when you are," Ash said, selecting a Pokéball from his belt.

"Magneton! Let's go!" Surge said, sending out the Steel/Electric type.

"Not just an Electric-Type, but a Steel-Type too. Good thing I have a counter! Charmeleon, let's get it done!" Ash said, throwing a Pokéball onto the field. Charmeleon practically burst out of his Pokéball, using Metal Claw as soon as he was released.

"Charmeleon, wait for my call!" Ash said, slightly frustrated at his reckless Fire-Type. Charmeleon backed off and waited for Ash's command.

"Now, use Thunderbolt, Magneton!" Surge commanded.

"Use Flamethrower!" Ash countered. The bolt flew through the flames and hit Charmeleon, while Magneton floated out of the path of the attack.

"Thunderbolt, again!" Surge shouted. Ash frowned, then grinned.

"Charmeleon, take the attack head on, use Metal Claw!" he commanded. Charmeleon braced himself and his claws glowed silver. The electricity hit Charmeleon's claws.

"Into the ground, now!" Ash said. Charmeleon stabbed his claws into the ground and the electricity dispersed without damaging the Fire-Type.

"Alright now charge forward!" Ash continued. Charmeleon leapt ahead as fast as he could. The tail on his tail glowed bright as Ash called "Now, use Flamethrower!". Charmeleon launched his attack and it surrounded Magneton. After the flames cleared, Magneton fell to the ground, unable to battle.

"Nice job, Charmeleon," Ash said, smiling. Charmeleon grinned, taking an offensive stance as Surge selected a 2nd Pokéball.

"Maybe you're better than I thought, kid! Voltorb, let's go!" Surge said. The Ball Pokémon emerged.

"Rollout!" Surge commanded. The Electric-Type rolled at Charmeleon, throwing the Pokémon backwards. As it came around for another approach, Ash called to his Pokémon "Hold him back! Metal Claw!" Charmeleon's claws glowed silver as they intercepted the Pokémon's attack. Charmeleon grimaced with effort as Voltorb's speed faded and it was thrown backward.

"Now, use Flamethrower!" Ash called. Charmeleon turned towards Voltorb, then froze. Ash frowned.

"What's going on, Charmeleon? Move!" he called. Sabrina, sitting in the audience, observed Ash's confusion.

"Charmeleon's usually not this slow. What's going… of course!" She muttered, "Static- It's Voltorb's ability. That struggle between Rollout and Metal Claw must have left Charmeleon paralyzed!" Ash had come to the same conclusion.

"Now, Voltorb, use Charge Beam!" Surge called. Voltorb shot a beam of electricity at Charmeleon, who attempted to dodge but failed to escape in time.

"We need to do some damage! Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!" Ash called.

"Double Team!" Surge countered. Several duplicates of Voltorb appeared all around Charmeleon. The second that one was destroyed by Charmeleon's attacks, another took its place.

"Now, use Charge Beam!" Surge commanded. The duplicates of Voltorb all fired a stronger beam at Charmeleon, who struggled, then collapsed.

"Charmeleon, no!" Ash yelled. He returned his Pokémon.

"Alright, Nidorino, you're up!" Ash said, calling his 2nd Pokémon.

"Rollout, now!" Surge called.

"Block it out with Surf!" Ash countered. Nidorino blocked the attack with a blast of water until Voltorb stopped moving.

"Charge Beam!" Surge commanded. The electricity was sent straight into Nidorino, throwing him backward.

"Supersonic!" Ash called. Nidorino shot a blast of sonic energy, confusing Voltorb.

"That's it, I've had it! Use SelfDestruct!" Surge called.

"Nidorino, look out!" Ash called, but it was too late. The damage from the Charge Beam and the blast sent out from Voltorb caused Nidorino to fall to the ground, unconscious. Both Pokémon were unable to battle. Both trainers had one Pokémon remaining.

"Pikachu, you ready?" Ash asked, returning Nidorino.

"Pika," Pikachu called.

"Going with the little baby mouse again? Well then, I guess I'll go with Raichu!" Surge said, throwing out his own electric mouse's Pokéball.

"Use Mega Punch!" Surge commanded.

"Agility!" Ash countered. Pikachu quickly leapt out of the way of his evolved form's attack, glowing white as it raised its own speed.

"Shock Wave!" Surge continued.

"Ground yourself!" Ash countered. Pikachu used Iron Tail to drain the power of the Electric attack into the earth.

"While he's still in the ground, use Mega Punch!" Surge commanded, utilizing the same tactic as he had in the last battle.

"It's time, Pikachu! Let's unveil our little surprise! Return!"

"Pikachu is your final Pokèmon! He cannot be recalled without a forfeit!" The referee called. Pikachu smirked as his paws glowed bright white.

"You must not have understood," Ash said, grinning.

Pikachu swung his paws, intercepting the Mega Punch and throwing Raichu backwards.

"But that's," Lt. Surge gasped.

"Return attack," Sabrina confirmed, smiling.

"Now, use ThunderPunch!" Ash called.

Pikachu's signature attack, although not very effective, slammed into Raichu's stomach, knocking him unconscious.

"Raichu is unable to battle! The challenger- Ash Ketchum, has won the battle!"

"Alright, Pikachu! We did it!" Ash said, holding out his arms. Pikachu ran off the battlefield and jumped into his partner's arms.

"I've got to admit it, kid. You've got some skills. I'd like to battle again sometime."

"Any time," Ash said, shaking Surge's hand.

"You've earned this ThunderBadge," Surge said, handing it to Ash.

"Two down," Ash muttered, pinning it to his jacket.

Sabrina and Ash left the gym. Ash smiled as he saw Pikachu lying down on his shoulder, exhausted.

"Where to next?" Sabrina asked. Ash pulled out his Pokènav+ and searched for nearby gyms.

"The Saffron Gym seems like a good goal," Ash said, searching details of the gym.

"I heard that one's closed," Sabrina said quickly, "maybe we should find another one."

"How about Celadon?" Ash asked, scrolling back through his Pokènav+.

"Of course. I'm pretty sure that gym's run by Erika: a Grass-Type user. With Charmeleon, Pidgeot, and Butterfree on your team you'd have a pretty good shot at beating her."

Ash nodded, tucking his Pokènav+ away and walking back the the Pokèmon Center, where Sabrina and Ash sat down to plan their path of travel.

 **A/N: I'm sorry, guys, I only just saw how short this chapter was :(  
But in other news, we've reached the end of my stockpile of chapters, so I guess Season One is officially over! On to season two! I already have a few episodes written, so stay tuned!  
See you soon :)**


	21. Cruising Along

**Happy new year! So, this is the first chapter of"Season 2". What that means from a behind-the-scenes standpoint is that I have officially gone through all the original material I wrote a few years back and edited into the first season of ATQ. I am writing these from scratch and trying to post them as soon as possible. I have one and a half drafts past this chapter, but other than that and the story outline, I've got nothing. I make no promises as to when I'll be releasing new chapters. However, enjoy this new chapter!**

Ash and Sabrina stepped out of the door of the Pokèmon Center, bags packed and ready for a long trek to Celadon City. Walking through the city, Ash took a turn to walk alongside the ocean port. A large cruise ship was in port and several trainers were boarding. Ash saw one with an Eevee on his shoulder, another with a Haunter following behind her. Yet another had a Torchic riding on his head.

"A trainers' cruise?" Ash asked, pointing the ship out to Sabrina.

"That's the St Anne. It's a popular training cruise ship. It's extremely expensive to get a ticket, though. I'm surprised that so many trainers are boarding at one time," she replied.

"Trainers, one and all! The St Anne is proud to invite you to a free cruise around the seas! Train with hundreds of other battlers while we supply food and drink! Battle for the top trainer award, get your Pokèmon Groomed, relax while your Pokèmon are cared for by our top care specialists! All sponsored by the Anne's new co-owner- the Planetary Corporation!" a man shouted. Ash pulled out his Pokénav+ and looked up the ship's routes.

"The Anne travels to a port in Harrison Town, which is only a few hours' walk to Celadon! he said, grinning.

"We're boarding, aren't we?" Sabrina asked, obviously excited by the chance to ride a famous cruise ship and relax for a few days.

"Absolutely," Ash said. The two climbed up the boarding ramp and onto the massive cruise ship, scanning their trainer cards as they entered. Ash looked around and saw a stadium with several open battlefields. He ran to the first slot and another trainer took the slot across from him.

"How many points do you have?" the trainer asked.

"Points?" Ash asked.

"You've got a Pokènav+, check it!"

Ash checked his Pokènav+ and noticed that a new app labeled St Anne had downloaded.

"It's how the cruise charts all the trainers' ranks! What are you?"

"It's blank!"

"First battle?"

"Yeah!"

"Well then, let's see what you're made of, noob! Cubchoo, go!"

The opponent sent her Cubchoo onto the field, where it patiently awaited Ash's own Pokèmon. Ash selected a Pokèball from his belt.

"We'll see who the noob is here, Quickdraw," Ash chuckled, "Charmeleon, take her down!"

Charmeleon appeared in a blast of light. It looked at Cubchoo smirked, ready for an easy battle.

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" Ash called.

"Endure, Cubchoo!" the trainer called. Cubchoo glowed blue as the flames flew over it, but remained standing.

"Now use Brine!" the trainer called.

"Oh, no," Ash muttered, "Charmeleon, jump and use Dragon Rage!"

Charmeleon leapt into the air, blasting farther up using the force of its attack, barely avoiding the blast of pressurized water Cubchoo had just released.

"Dive and use Metal Claw!"

"Brine!"

As Charmeleon dove and let his claws glow silver, Cubchoo fired another attack at Charmeleon. The two attacks met as Charmeleon dove through the water, using his claws as a shield to deflect the water. Charmeleon grit his teeth as the claws met Cubchoo, who fell backward and was unable to battle. Charmeleon stood up, falling to one arm to keep himself steady.

"Cubchoo is unable to battle," Ash said, "Charmeleon wins."

"Good battle," The trainer said, shaking Ash's hand. Ash saw a 100 appear on his Pokènav+. His opponent's decreased by 100 simultaneously.

"Charmeleon, are you okay?" Ash asked, walking up to his injured Pokèmon.

"Char…" Charmeleon said, nodding.

"Take a rest. I'll battle with another Pokèmon for a while," Ash said. Another trainer had taken a place in the other side of Ash's battlefield.

"Klang, go!" the trainer shouted, throwing a Pokèball onto the field.

"Squirtle, you're up! Ash called, letting the water-type out of his Pokèball.

"Use Charge Beam!"

"Dodge it!" Ash commanded. Klang shot the attack, but Squirtle expertly leapt into the air to dodge the attack. Its time training with Charmeleon and Ivysaur had done wonders for its speed and agility.

"Use Water Pulse!" Ash called. While in the air, Squirtle spun around and launched the orb of water from its hands, striking the Gear Pokémon and sending it falling to the ground.

"Get up, Klang!" Its trainer called. The Pokémon struggled, but floated back into the air.

"Tackle!"

Squirtle descended from the sky, tucking itself into its shell and slamming into Klang, sending it back into the ground, unconscious. Ash shook the trainer's hand and his Pokénav registered another 100 point increase.

Ash continued switching out Pokémon on the battlefield between battles, racking up a series of victories against the diverse Pokémon on board the ship. As the sun began to descend, Ash returned Nidorino, who had just finished battling and defeating a Jolteon. He checked his Pokénav once more before putting it away. A notice on the screen informed him that the ship would no longer be tracking victories that day. He checked the map and noted a training area nearby. He headed in that direction when Sabrina waved him down.

Sabrina had spent the day relaxing, and smiled brightly when she saw Ash approaching.

"Hey, Ash. They've got a party going down below deck if you're done battling," She said.

"Well, I was going to keep training for a little..."

"Ash, come on," Sabrina interrupted, "It's a cruise. Relax for a bit, your Pokémon need some rest anyways. Please?" She took hold of his hand.

"Well… I guess so…" Ash said, nodding.

Sabrina's face brightened. "Great! So, how about we both head to our rooms, leave our Pokémon to rest, get changed, and meet at the party."

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

Ash went back to his room and quickly changed for the party. He left most of his traveling supplies in his room, unclipping his Pokéball belt and leaving it on the desk. He left his jacket hung on the back of his chair and hung his hat and backpack from the back of the doorknob. He changed into a fresh black tee shirt and jeans and quickly checked himself in the mirror, nodding in approval.

"Hold down the fort, alright, Pikachu?" he said. The electric mouse nodded and curled up on the bed to take a well deserved nap.

Ash made his way to the room where the party was taking place. Repurposed from an indoor battlefield, a dance floor had been set up in half of the room, where trainers jumped up and down to the high-tempo music. Ash smiled and looked around. He saw a few faces he'd battled earlier, one of whom, Kay, waved him over.

"I was wondering if you'd show up, looked like you were on a roll up on the battlefield," he said. Ash laughed.

"Yeah, my friend Sabrina convinced me to give my Pokémon a break and come down."

"Ah, so you're here for a girl," Kay laughed.

"It's not like that," Ash defended.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that," he responded.

"Keep telling himself what?" a voice asked. Ash turned around and gasped. Sabrina had exchanged her usual red turtleneck and dark pants for a red skirt, tights, a white tee-shirt, and a black jacket. Her blue hair was let down and fell to just below her shoulders.

"What?" she asked, "you look like you've seen a ghost."

"Nothing," he responded, "you just look nice is all."

"Thanks, and you look like you barely tried," she teased.

"I packed light!" Ash defended. Sabrina laughed.

"I'm messing with you, hotshot. I'll be right back, I'm going to go stop by the snack table."

The trainer grinned as Ash watched Sabrina, "Yeah, it's totally like that," he said. Ash didn't respond.

"So, who's your friend?" Sabrina asked, returning with a plate of grapes and a cookie.

"Ah, Sabrina, Kay. Kay, Sabrina."

"Nice to meet you," Kay said, shaking her hand.

"I saw you battling up on the deck. What ranking did you end up reaching?"

"Oh, I reached a 39. Pretty decent."

"Ash, how'd you do?"

"22," he answered.

"Top 25, not bad!" Kay complimented. The crowd on the dance floor cheered as the DJ changed songs.

"Oh! I love this song! I'm gonna go find my friends on the dance floor. You gonna come?" Kay asked.

"I… don't really know how to dance" Sabrina admitted.

"Hey, don't worry, nobody really does, I'm sure Ash would be happy to help you out, right, Ash?"

"Oh… of course!"

The three made their way to the dance floor, Sabrina ending up in front as Kay hung back, noticing Ash hesitating.

"What the heck, dude?" Ash whispered.

"It's a party, you're here with a pretty girl, and now you're going to dance with her. You know how to dance, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Great, then you can thank me later," Kay responded, pushing him after Sabrina. The two reached the dance floor and Kay navigated toward the middle of the crowd, waving toward a group dancing together.

"So… what do we do?" Sabrina asked.

"Give me your hands," he said. She nodded and placed her hands in his. He stood across from her and started simply moving to the beat.

"It's easy, just figure out the groove of the song and move to the beat," Ash said. Sabrina smiled. The two danced together to the song's beat.

"This is fun!" Sabrina said, laughing. Ash smiled back.

"Try this on for size," He said, letting go of one hand and using the other to spin her around. She laughed even harder. Soon, the two were dancing to the beat, jumping and up and down with their hands in the air or twisting around with each other. After a while, the two left the dance floor to catch their breath.

"You sure seemed comfortable out on the dance floor, popular with the girls in Pallet Town, were you?" Sabrina asked.

"Nah, there's a dance party at the end of a summer camp Professor Oak puts on every year, so after attending for 3 years and helping run it for 5, I've picked up some moves."

"I see. Well, I didn't really go to many dances as a kid. I was usually spending my time studying."

"Wow, I figured you didn't usually dance but I'd never assumed you never went to one. You seem so confident."

"Yeah… I'm… very different from who I was when I was a kid."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah… well..."

Sabrina was interrupted as Kay made his way over with his two friends in tow. They nodded to Ash as Kay introduced them as Jay and his girlfriend Ella. Ash knew Ella from a scrimmage they'd had earlier, pitting her baby Dratini against Sneasel. Both Pokémon had been knocked out in a collision between a powered up Scratch attack and Dragon Rage.

"You two looked like you were having fun out there," Kay said.

"I, for one, am having a blast," Sabrina responded

"Same here," Ash said. He passed the trio a set of sodas and they nodded, opening them and taking a sip.

"So, where are you two headed?" Kay asked.

"Ash is challenging the Pokémon League. We're headed toward Celadon City, so we'll be getting off at the stop in Harrison Town."

"Smart. We're taking the long ride all the way out to the Sevii Islands for a few days, then meeting with a friend to catch a ride to Cinnabar Island. Ella is also battling in the league, and that'll be her eighth badge."

"Nice! I guess I'll see you at the tournament!"

"I suppose so."

The trainers small talked for awhile until Ella dragged Jay back to the dance floor. Sabrina smiled and grabbed Ash's hand.

"Shall we?" she asked, gesturing back to the dance floor.

"Sure," Ash said. Sabrina pulled Ash back onto the dance floor and they continued to dance until the DJ's voice echoed over the speaker.

"Alright, guys. We're gonna slow it down a little."

The song changed, and both Ash and Sabrina blushed as a slow song began to play. Sabrina looked around at the other trainers dancing with their partners and followed their lead, wrapping her arms around Ash's neck. Ash placed his hand on her hips as they began to sway to the music. As the song continued, the two grew more comfortable together, growing closer until they held each other close, foreheads touching, eyes looking into each other's. Ash paid no attention to a scuffle on the platform where the DJ stood, until suddenly the music stopped, a voice echoing over the speakers.

"Everybody get back to your rooms! Get your Pokémon! Get off the ship any way you can! Planetary Corporation… they're… they're Team Rocket!"

There was a loud thud as the source of the voice was tackled by two security officers on board, but the damage was already done. The name of Kanto's notorious crime group echoed through the room.

And with that, all hell broke loose.

 **To be continued! Sorry, I just couldn't resist with this one. Please leave a review, I'd love to hear how you're liking the story!  
See you soon!**


	22. Escape from the SS Anne

Every trainer in the room sprinted for the doors, as security guards began blocking them. The mob forced Sabrina and Ash in separate directions as everybody began attempting to take one of the exits. They were quickly locked shut, but trainers were everywhere, attempting to force their way through, yelling. Some trainers that still had their Pokémon on hand sent them out and battled the security guards, creating even more chaos. Ash pushed his way free of the mob and looked around the room, searching for a sign of Sabrina.

"Sabrina!" He called over the commotion.

"Ash!" he heard in response. He turned toward the sound and saw a glimpse of blue hair in the crowd. He began trying to force his way back into the crowd toward it. Suddenly, two strong sets of arms grabbed onto him. He turned his head and saw that two security officers were preventing him from moving.

"Ash Ketchum, somebody wants to speak with you." one said, and they dragged him through a door in the back of the room, out of sight of the trainers. They traveled down to the ship's maintenance rooms and Ash found his arms to the arms of a wooden chair. A laptop was open on the table, with a distorted silhouette of a man on the screen.

"Ah, Ashton. You've arrived," the man said. Ash didn't respond and instead began growling and struggling against his ropes.

"Please, I simply want to talk," he said.

"Where are my Pokémon?" Ash growled.

"Show him," the man said. One of the criminals dropped his belt, filled with Pokéballs, on the table. They also dropped his jacket and hat next to them, then set a cage on the table. Seals prevented any Pokémon from forcing their way out of their Pokéballs, and although he tried Ash could not reach the balls to free them. The cage, a dome made out of transparent plastic, with metal bars separating it into eight sections, held Pikachu. A handle on the top, clearly insulated, made it easy to carry.

"Your Pikachu, I'm afraid, isn't even yours. An associate of mine has been looking for him for a while. They'll be happy to have him back."

"Don't you dare…" Ash growled.

"Ashton, you are an... intriguing trainer to say the least. First, you thwart one of our more… bumbling squads' attempt to rob a Pokémon Center. Later, you show up and save a Nidoqueen and Nidoran from that same duo. Then, you helped ruin a deal we had with a gang in Cerulean. At first, you were simply a nuisance… I was worried that we had a leak, with that specific duo I wouldn't have been surprised. And then, this happened."

An image appeared on the screen, a rough recording from a camera that must have been hidden on the general's body. Ash's battle at the hidden villiage.

"Remember what we're fighting for!" his recording shouted, and his eyes glowed blue, a wave of energy flinging out of him. The camera image was reduced to static.

"You… have Aura. That's a rare gift, one that prompted me to do some research on you: Ashton Aaron Ketchum, son of Delia Ketchum, former assistant to Professor Oak."

"So I can sense Pokémon, big deal, what do you want from me?"

"Oh, Ashton. You don't even know what you're capable of. Even as unrefined as yours is, it draws power toward you. You travel with gym leaders, who are drawn to you. You grow more in a few months than other trainers do in years, as your aura draws out Pokémon's potential. I have use for somebody who can do that.."

"And you expect me to work for you? Help you?"

"I haven't even told you the benefits package yet! I can offer you back the Pikachu, and keep your friend Sabrina safe. I can let you take the Hidden Village that you seem to love so much, in the name of Team Rocket of course, and manage it how you see fit! Anything you want to accomplish, within your grasp!"

"I'm not going to help you steal Pokémon and hurt them," Ash growled. The man shook his head.

"Let's keep talking. I'm sure we can come to… some agreement," he said.

Higher up on the ships, the mob had mostly dispersed as security guards battled against the passengers. The trainers whose Pokémon had been left in their rooms had managed to escape when another group of trainers who hadn't attended the party had arrived to help battle the guards. Attacked from both sides, the guards were too distracted to stop the mob of trainers leaving the room.

Among them was Sabrina, who quickly ran to her room and retrieved her three Pokéballs. She shoved any of her possessions that she could into her bag, then left to get to the deck and hopefully find Ash.

She arrived in the Atrium, where a massive multi-battle had erupted. Through the doors was the deck, but the guards had managed to block them with a mass of Raticate, Ursaring, and Golbat. Trainers who had strong enough Pokémon had taken up the call and sent out their Pokémon to battle. Sabrina's hand slipped to her Pokéballs, but she could clearly see the power gap, and she wouldn't teleport away without Ash. She noticed a familiar face in the crowd who was watching the battle, cheering on the trainers, and ran to greet Kay.

"Hey!" she yelled over the commotion.

"Sabrina, hey!" he responded

"Have you seen Ash? I lost him before I got out of the party!"

"No! Not since we were all hanging out together!"

"Do you think maybe Ella or Jay?"

"I don't think so, we stuck together! They're up front, Ella's part of the battle!"

Suddenly, Sabrina could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. An unmistakable high-pitched whine filled the room.

"Woah! Hit the deck!" she shouted, diving to the ground. A blast of light shot past the crowd as a trainer's Pokémon launched a Hyper Beam attack. She felt the entire ship shudder as the blast shot through walls toward the depths of the ship.

The shudder was felt throughout the ship, as suddenly Ash felt the chair he was trapped in thrown sideways. The chair landed on its side and Ash grunted in pain. The arm of the chair broke off, freeing one of his hands, and as the guards rushed forward, he reached out and grabbed his belt, which had been thrown off the table and landed next to him. He slammed one of the Pokeballs into the floor of the room, breaking off the seal. In a flash of blue light, Charmeleon stood in front of him. For once, Ash was grateful for his Pokémon's shoot first, take orders later attitude, as he instantly shot a Flamethrower at the guards, forcing them back.

"Charmeleon, get me out of here!" Ash called. Charmeleon nodded and swiped downward with a Metal Claw, cutting straight through the ropes. Ash grabbed Pikachu's cage, pressing a release lever down and opening it. Faced with an angry Fire-Type and Electric-Type Pokémon, the guards turned and ran. Ash gathered his belongings and walked toward the still-open door.

"Don't think this is over, Ashton," the computer said. The screen was cracked, as it too had fallen to the floor, but the audio still echoed through the room. "We'll talk again... soon." Ash left the room and looked down. There was a step down from the room he had been held in to the hall, and now that he was in the hall he could see that about a half-inch of water coated the floor. He returned Charmeleon, pausing to break the seals on the rest of his Pokéballs. By the time he was finished, the water had risen to about an inch. He turned and headed for the exit.

The battles continued on top of the ship, unaware of the fact that the vessel was filling with water below deck. The battlers had managed to push back the guards to the deck of the Anne, and those with Flying Pokémon had begun fleeing. Sabrina continued to look around for Ash, but saw no sign.

"I'm going to go look for him. What if they got to his Pokémon, he could be looking for them." she said, turning to Kay.

"Alright," he said. She turned back to the doors to the Atrium when suddenly the ship shuddered yet again and Sabrina was thrown off her feet. An urgent voice echoed through loudspeakers.

"Passengers, this is your captain speaking! Due to damages, the Anne's course was altered and we have collided with a group of large rocks. The ship is going to sink. I advise everybody to abandon ship. I repeat, abandon ship!"

Kay helped Sabrina up.

"You heard him, let's go!" he said. The guards apparently valued their own necks more than this mission, and had sprinted up a flight of stairs. Sabrina watched as several helicopters began to rise into the air.

"Not without Ash," Sabrina said, turning back and sprinting into the atrium. She ran down the stairs and took a right turn toward Ash's room. Suddenly, she heard a voice from another room.

"So the grunts are abandoning the mission. No surprise, given the circumstances." a voice said. It was filled with static and modulated, obviously over some sort of communicator, yet the cruel, calculating nature of the voice still chilled Sabrina to the bone.

"I hope you understand what this is costing us, Commander Richards. Most of the Pokémon were taken back by the trainers before you could stop them, and now we're losing an expensive cruise ship," it continued

Another voice responded, this one the one on this end. It was rough, yet obviously afraid of the man on the end. "I understand, boss."

"Then you'll understand that there will be consequences, dire consequences."

"S-sir, the mission isn't a total loss."

"Well, we did have a rather important passenger aboard, and I wish to speak with him in person, this time. So, I'll tell you what. Bring him to me, and then all will be forgiven. But Commander Richards, if you fail to bring me Ashton Ketchum, then I'd recommend you make like a good captain… and go down with the ship."

Sabrina gasped at the mention of her friend's name, and as the call ended the man spun around to face her.

"Well, well, well," he said, confidence entering his voice as the terrifying man on the other end was no longer present. He lunged forward and grabbed her.

"I'm told to bring the boss Ketchum, and who should show up to make my job easier… but his little girlfriend? It's almost too good to be true!"

"Let me go!" she growled, struggling against the man's powerful grip. He dragged her to the battlefield, and waited.

"Given your friend's history, I'd say he's tracking you down, and…"

"Hey!" Ash shouted, running toward the man. The man grinned and tossed out a Pokéball with the free hand, keeping the other on Sabrina's arm, holding her in place. In a flash of light, Magmortar landed on the battlefield.

"The ship is sinking! Are you crazy?" Ash shouted.

"Either you come with me, or we both go down!" Commander Richards shouted back. Ash growled.

"Pikachu, you got this?" he asked. The electric mouse nodded and landed on the battlefield.

"Return attack, on the double!" Ash called.

"Fire Blast!" Richards ordered. Magmortar roared and raised both hands, cannons firing two surges of firy energy. Pikachu charged forward, but was thrown back by the force of the attack. He struggled, barely able to get to his feet.

"You alright, buddy?" Ash called. Pikachu nodded, though was clearly in pain.

"Let's try something else!" Ash suggested, "Electro Ball!"

Pikachu nodded and leaped into the air.

"Flamethrower!" Richards growled. Magmortar raised a single cannon and a blast of flames shot from it, straight toward Pikachu. Pikachu launched the ball of electricity, but the attack was overpowered by the flames, getting launched back in the opposite direction. Pikachu narrowly avoided the Flamethrower attack, but was obviously exhausted, still shaking off the damage from the Fire Blast attack.

"He's too strong to take on alone… Nidorino, give him some backup!" Ash called, throwing out a second Pokéball. The 2nd Pokémon joined the field and nodded to Pikachu, who nodded back.

"Fire Blast!" Richards called.

"Nidorino, hold it back with Surf! Pikachu, use Return attack!"

Nidorino shot the Surf attack, struggling to hold back the power of the Fire Blast. Pikachu took the opportunity to leap over his partner, glowing white, and slam into Magmortar. The Pokémon stumbled, but got back to his feet.

"Flamethrower!" Richards commanded.

"Dodge it, Pikachu! Nidorino, use Supersonic!"

Pikachu narrowly avoided the attack by dashing to the side, while Nidorino shot the burst of sound at Magmortar. The fire-type stumbled around confusedly.

"Ash, the ground!" Sabrina called. Ash instantly understood her warning, he could feel the ship beginning to tip.

"Let's finish this! Nidorino, rock the boat, use Surf!"

Nidorino nodded and roared, reaching out to control the water surrounding the ship. The already unstable ship began to shake and rumble.

"Pikachu, aim for the legs! Use Return Attack!"

Pikachu slammed into Magmortar's legs, and the already unstable Pokémon tumbled to the ground.

"Now, Nidorino, use Surf while he's down!" Ash called, "Pikachu, Electro Ball!" Nidorino shot a blast of water over Magmortar, which was soon electrified by the Electro Ball. Magmortar struggled, then finally slumped to the ground, unmoving.

"You… defeated Magmortar!" Richards shouted, returning his Pokémon. The ground shook as the boat continued to tip, and as Richards lost his balance, Sabrina tore herself away and swiped one of her Pokéballs back from him.

"Ash, grab on!" she called. Ash returned Nidorino and scooped up Pikachu, running over to grab onto her. She frowned, then grabbed onto the commander.

"Abra, Teleport!" she yelled, throwing the Pokéball. The Pokémon appeared and in a flash of white light, Ash felt his feet hit the ground on the deck of a search and rescue boat, to the surprise of the officers on board.

From there, everything moved like wildfire. Commander Richards was arrested, and Ash and Sabrina were pulled off into separate rooms for questioning. Ash explained what happened to him on the ship and the officer left the room, asking him to wait there. After a few minutes, an older looking Officer Jenny stepped into the room and sat down across from him.

"Hello, Ash. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble. I'm the Jenny who is in charge of the investigation into Team Rocket. So, according to this report, you talked with Team Rocket's leader?"

"That seemed to be the case."

"Did he say anything out of the ordinary?"

"He knew who I was. My name, where I'd been, my family, everything."

"Yes, speaking of that, I thought you'd like to know that I'm going to have some of the officers on duty at the Professor's lab keep tabs on your mother and ensure that she's safe"

"Thank you," Ash said, sighing in relief. He had worried that Team Rocket may retaliate by going after his mother.

"Of course. Now, did he say anything else? Locations, names?"

"Not really, he just asked me to join him, talked about the things I'd done, said I would be useful to him."

"How so?"

"He… he said it was because of my Aura. Apparently, I draw power from people and Pokémon around me. I've never heard anything more than it can be used to sense emotions."

"I'm not very familiar with Aura, I'll have to look into that. It's most likely that he is simply trying to recruit you for your power, but if he needs Aura for something specific, it could help track him down."

"He… he also said he was going to speak with me soon."

"Your friend reported that he said he wanted to see you in person. I'm going to give you a number. If he reaches out, just call."

"I'll try."

By this time, the rescue boat had arrived on a port on Kane Island: A small island not far from the mainland. Ash got off and went to the Pokémon Center, dropping off his Pokémon to be healed before heading to a room, showering up and changing. By the time he was done, Sabrina was waiting in the lobby.

"Hey, so how'd it go with the officer?" she asked.

"I couldn't tell her anything new, but she asked me to keep in touch," Ash replied. The two sat down in a waiting area across from one another, waiting for their Pokémon to be healed.

"Heck of a day, huh?" Ash said.

"Almost trapped on a sinking ship, battles with criminal commanders, I feel like I could sleep for a week," Sabrina replied, "Speaking of sleeping for a week, what do you think we should do now. We can't exactly take the Anne to Harrison Town now that it's at the bottom of the ocean. What's the plan?"

Ash pulled out his Pokénav+ and opened the map.

"The next boat to the mainland leaves in a few days on the north side of the island, it's about a day's walk from here," he said.

"So if we spend a day packing and resting up, we can get there in time to catch the ship, then head toward Celadon," Sabrina said, "sound like a plan?"

"Sounds good to me," Ash replied.

"Glad to see you two made it," A voice said. Ash turned his head and saw Jay, Kay and Ella standing behind the couch. Kay took a seat in a chair that was positioned around the same table as Ash and Sabrina's couches, and Jay and Ella shared another chair across from him.

"It was a bit rough, but it'll take more than a sinking ship to do me in," he said. Jay laughed.

"Seems like it," Ella replied.

"We're headed off to the north side to catch a boat back to the mainland in a couple days, you guys want to tag along?" Ash asked.

"Sorry, the gym challenge waits for no one. We're waiting here for our friend, he's gonna pick us up here instead."

"Too bad, I guess I'll see you at the tournament, then," Ash said.

"I suppose so," Ella said. The five trainers continued to talk until late in the evening, telling each other about their own experiences on the Anne, sharing stories of travels and battles, and joking with each other. Ash supposed surviving a shipwreck together was enough to make anyone consider each other friends. But all night, he kept catching himself staring at Sabrina, flashing back to the previous evening, dancing with her aboard the Anne.

 **A/N: And with that, the two-part season premier is complete! Now, on to the rest! I've got plans, but not everything is completely fleshed out, and even less is set in stone, so I'd love to hear what people have to say in the reviews!**


	23. Keeping Cool

**A/N: *Insert it's been 3000 years meme here* School is mean, Writer's Block is meaner. Enjoy the chapter!**

"Alright, Sneasel, watch me," Ash said. The Pokémon nodded. Sabrina and Ash had reached the city by the island's port, only to discover that several companies running boats to and from the island had shut down to up security after the incident on the Anne, leaving Ash and Sabrina stuck on the island until a ship arrived in the next week. After checking in at the Pokémon Center and getting some much needed sleep, Ash decided to head out back to the training field and spend the days training with his young Ice-Type. Charmeleon stood battle-ready on the other side of the field.

"Charmeleon, remember, low power," he emphasized, "I don't want to get burned up while training." Charmeleon rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower."

Charmeleon launched a small blast of flames at Ash, who jumped to the side to avoid the attack.

"You like to go all out with physical attacks. That works, but you need to think like your opponents. I have to attack physically, but Charmeleon can attack me from any distance, so I'm going to need to close the distance, but not get hit."

Ash rushed forward, then leapt to one side, landing on the side of his feet. Charmeleon turned its head and released another attack, but Ash jumped back in the other direction, then rushed around behind Charmeleon before tapping him on the shoulder. He jumped backwards as the Pokemon turned around in frustration and slashed at him with Metal Claw.

"Woah! Alright, calm it down Charmeleon!" Ash said. The Pokemon sighed and stood down.

"Alright, Charmeleon's counterattack aside, If you can get into a Pokémon's blind spot and use it to your advantage, then you can attack physically, something you'll be much more prepared for than a Pokémon trained to use Special Attacks." Sneasel nodded.

"And even when Charmeleon tried to attack back, I had time to dodge, and he was moving pretty quick. The important thing is for you to get there. If you get the opponent to try to attack somewhere that you aren't, they'll have to notice that you moved, then move to follow you, giving you plenty of time to land a hit. By changing directions right as the attack is launched, you throw them off. In a real battle, the more times you do that, the better." Sneasel's claws glowed; Ash could tell his Pokémon was getting excited.

"I want you to practice that move. Jumping back and forth, staying light on your feet. Alright?" Sneasel nodded and began attempting to replicate the attack. Ash stayed alongside him, continuing to demonstrate the move, until Sneasel was able to confidently replicate it. He stepped to the side and watched.

"He's doing well," Sabrina commented.

"Yeah. You were right about me needing to teach him how to battle. He may not be a battler yet, but he certainly has one's heart. I teach him something, and he picks it up like that," Ash responded, snapping his fingers. He leaned against the chain link fence separating the training ground from the rest of the town.

"I'm thinking of subbing him in for the battle against Erika, if he masters Ice Shard by then."

"Well, I'd be careful. He may have an advantage, but he's still young, and you don't want to overdo it," Sabrina warned. Ash nodded. He continued to watch his Pokémon train. Other than Sneasel and Charmeleon, he was also having Pidgeotto, Butterfree, and Nidorino train for the coming battle. Pikachu rested on the side of the field, cheering on his friends. Getting bored, he decided to jump in with Sneasel, who began to spar with the mouse. Ash closed his eyes and enjoyed the day. The sun on his skin and the salty air reminded him of spending time by the pier just south of Pallet Town.

"Don't tell me you're slacking off," a voice said. Ash gasped.

"No way… Misty?" He asked. He opened his eyes and looked toward the doors to the Pokémon center, where the orange-haired former gym leader stood, grinning.

"The one and only," she said. Ash ran over to meet her and greeted her with a friendly hug.

"How've you been?" she asked, "I heard from Professor Oak that you caught some new Pokemon."

"Oh, yeah. I caught a Squirtle, and that Charmeleon over there. You talked with the Professor?"

"He gave me a place to stay when that storm hit the south coast. It turns out he gave my mom her first Pokémon."

"Wow, small world," Ash said.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Sabrina asked

"The professor lent me his boat, actually. Some expensive business is having some trouble with local Pokémon where they're trying to build a resort, and they're offering a reward for assistance. I thought that I'd see what was what."

"Any luck?"

"I'm not sure. I need to head to meet with the project manager."

"Well, we're actually looking for a way to Harrison town, so how about we tag along, help out with the problem, and afterward we can hitch a ride back to the mainland?"

"Sounds like a plan," Misty said. Ash turned to Sabrina.

"That alright with you?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, saves us some time, right? Means… we can get… get…" Sabrina's eyes suddenly grew faint, and Ash grabbed her arm as she stumbled, nearly falling over.

"Sabrina, you okay?" Ash asked. She nodded. Ash helped her over to a bench where she sat down.

"I'm fine…" she replied. She held her hand to her forehead.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure, must not've gotten enough sleep recently with all the excitement."

"You go up to your room and rest. I'll fill you in after we get back, alright?" She nodded, getting to her feet weakly.

"Need a hand?" Ash asked. Sabrina shook her head.

"I can get there."

"I'm going to check in with the nurse, just have her check on you. Okay?" Ash said. Sabrina nodded.

"Fine."

Ash checked in with Nurse Joy, then left the center with Misty. He absentmindedly tossed Pikachu's Pokéball up and down in his hand.

"Earth to Ash, you there?" Misty asked. Ash focused back in on Misty.

"Yeah, sorry. Distracted."

"Worried about Sabrina?"

"Good guess. I've never seen her faint like that. I'm hoping she's not hurt."

Misty nodded and the two kept walking. They reached the headquarters of the company and Misty checked in with the front desk, then sat down in a waiting room. Ash sat down next to her.

"So, what's up between the two of you, anyway?" Misty asked.

"What?" Ash asked, confused.

"Oh, please. I'm not blind, Ash. I saw the way you looked when she fainted. And you've been distracted ever since. You like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, she's a good friend, we've been through a lot," Ash replied.

"Not what I mean, Ketchum. I saw how close you two were when we were traveling together, and I may not have been back for long, but I can still tell something's different."

"Okay, okay," Ash said, "On the Anne, before Team Rocket attacked, there was a quick moment where we were dancing, and, I don't know… we haven't really talked about it since."

"Well why not? Don't tell me you're scared of a girl."

"It's like I said, she's a good friend. I guess… I'm worried that if I say anything, and things don't go well…"

"You're worried she won't want to travel with you anymore," Misty said. Ash nodded.

"You two have been through a lot together. Do you really think that she'd just leave?"

Ash didn't respond, and Misty changed the subject to ask about Ash's journey. Ash told her about his battle with Surge, and the adventure aboard the Anne. Misty told him about her travels through Viridian Forest, down to Pallet, and even helping deal with an emergency on the ranch when the storm hit. The two ended their conversation when they were called into an office. Inside, three people: two women and a man, sat at one end of a table.

"Miss Waterflower, I presume?" the man said, gesturing in Misty's direction. Misty nodded.

"And who's this?" a voice hissed. One of the women, an older woman, hair dyed a shade of bright orange even brighter than Misty's own hair, stood up, glaring in Ash's direction. Her outfit was just as clashing, a long, yellow skirt and blue shirt, topped off with a white fur scarf and purple bead necklace.

"Ash Ketchum, ma'am," Ash said, "I'm a trainer from Pallet Town, and a friend of Misty. I've offered to help her with the job."

The man, dressed in a simple business suit with well-kept black hair, nodded. The other woman, a younger woman with brown hair tied into a bun, wearing a white shirt with a navy blue jacket and black pants, gestured for both the two trainers and the older woman to sit, then began to speak.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Theresa Mclean, I'm the manager of the company's public relations. My husband Jeremiah is the CEO, and this is Nastina Fowler, the construction manager. I'll allow my husband to explain the situation. Jeremiah nodded.

"Since we started construction of the Fallstar Resort, the Tentacool in the area have been aggressive, and have begun getting in the way of our construction."

"My crew has gone on strike," Nastina cut in, "And refuses to go back to work on the project until those menaces are dealt with."

"Excuse me, sir, but Tentacool aren't territorial. They don't attack unless provoked," Misty said.

"Apparently," Nastina said, mockingly, "these ones do."

"Misty's right. I've gone with the Professor on sea trips before, and unless we hit the Tentacool they don't attack us."

"We've tried staying out of their way," Mrs. Mclean said, "extensively. And we tried washing them back out to sea, but they came right back. I've never seen them swim like that. We wouldn't be hiring outside help if we hadn't tried to take care of this in-house."

"Of course," Ash said, "And I'm getting the impression Nastina is getting impatient."

"I'm offering to pay out of my own pockets to deal with the problem! Aren't I generous?" Nastina said.

"Well, I'm not going to agree to just chase off an innocent Pokémon population," Misty said.

"If you won't, we can find somebody who will!" Nastina countered.

"Misty," Ash said, "I get where you're coming from. Mr. and Mrs. Mclean, I'd like to ask you give me time to investigate. The Pokémon aren't acting normal, and I think that between my expertise working with Professor Oak, and Misty's expertise in water-types we can get to the bottom of what's causing this," Ash said.

"We need this done quickly, you understand," Mr Mclean said.

"Jeremiah," Mrs. Mclean said, If they can solve this without hurting the Tentacool, all the better," Mrs. Mclean said, "I've got Pokémon rights groups breathing down my back since we first ran into this problem." Mr. Mclean nodded, but Nastina frowned.

"You have a day. Then, I'm finding somebody who can get the job done," she said. Ash nodded.

"Thank you." he said. Misty and Ash turned and left the room.

"One day? You think we can do this?" Misty asked. Ash nodded.

"We've got the skills, right? I've got my aura, and you're the best water-type trainer I know. We can figure out how to calm them down."

"We should check out the beach," Ash said, "see what we can see." Misty nodded. The two got directions from the receptionist and headed out to a stretch of beach. The water glittered beautifully. An outcropping of rock kept a bay safe from waves, while a short walk out they crashed into the shore normally. Ash could understand why it was prime real estate for a resort.

"Ash, look over there!" Misty called, dashing toward a spot over the shoreline. Ash ran over, and Misty stood over an injured Horsea, washed up on the beach.

"It's poisoned," Ash said, "pretty banged up."

Misty unzipped her duffel bag and pulled out a pouch of berries. She chose a Lum Berry, and offered it to the Pokémon. It reached out and took a small bite. Ash grabbed a Sitrus Berry and borrowed the Lum Berry, quickly mixing them into a paste for the Pokémon, who happily consumed it.

"We'll still need to take her to the Pokémon Center to get checked up," she said. She reached out a Pokéball, and the Horsea nodded, tapping the button with its tail. The Pokémon was sucked inside and it clicked shut.

"Let's see what there is to see," Ash said. Misty nodded in approval. Ash closed his eyes and let the world around him fade. He could sense the Pokémon around him. He focused in on the Pokémon in the water.

"Seems like the Tentacool are the only Pokémon around," Ash said, "they must be attacking any other Water-Types that come into the cove."

"That's not right," Misty said, "Tentacool are passive. They don't usually even have territory.

"I know, but apparently these ones are," Ash said. He focused in on something strange. It was faint, but not like what he'd felt before. Almost… afraid."

"That's strange. The Tentacool aren't angry, but whatever is giving off the energy I'm sensing, it's definitely not normal," he muttered. He let the world fade back into perspective.

"I'm going to try something," Misty said. She pulled a Pokéball off her belt.

"Vaporeon, I need you!" Misty called, holding the ball out in front of her. Vaporeon leaped forth, jumping towards the waves as they lapped at the shore. The water rose to meet Vaporeon's paws.

"Go for a swim, Vaporeon. Head farther out slowly. If there's trouble, head straight back. Vaporeon nodded and leapt gracefully farther toward the water.

"I'm going to keep watch," Ash said. He closed his eyes and let the world fade away again, keeping a close eye on Vaporeon. Her aura was blurry as she swam and her body became one with it. Everything seemed fine. Ash was about to open his eyes when he sensed a shift. The Tentacools suddenly turned from a blue to an red.

"Call her back!" Ash said. The Tentacool swarmed toward Vaporeon. Vaporeon's aura became a blur and streaked toward the shore, passing right by the other Pokémon. As the distance grew, the Vaporeon returned to their non agressive state A jet of water shot from the ocean and transformed back into Vaporeon.

"Could they be… guarding something?" Ash questioned.

"Maybe, but what?" Misty said.

"Let's head back to the Pokémon Center, we can regroup there. Horsea needs to heal anyway."

Something stood out to Ash and he reached down, scooping up a handfull of sand and letting it slip through his fingers, leaving him holding a small red stone, slightly bigger than a marble. Something about it seemed… odd. He slipped it into his pocket. He'd have to figure out what it was about this lately.

The two made their way back to the Pokémon Center. Ash quickly noticed Sabrina sitting at a couch, sipping on a steaming cocoa. Spoink and Abra played in front of her, while Slowpoke was curled up next to her on the couch.

"Hey," Ash said.

"Hey," she responded, looking up.

"You feeling alright?" Ash asked.

"I'm fine. I can help you guys with the Tentacool if you want," she said. Ash could still hear strain in her voice.

"No way," Ash said, "Misty and I can handle things with this; you need your rest." Sabrina sighed.

"Fine," she said. Ash sat down on another couch, Misty joining Sabrina across from him. They filled her in on their goal, and the investigation. Ash opened his Pokénav+ to the page on the Fallstar Beach.

"Normal. There's a yearly meteor shower, and rocks tend to land in the ocean. It doesn't say anything about attacks," Ash said, browsing through.

"Anything change recently?" Misty asked. He shook his head. He searched up Tentacool.

"Non-territorial," he read, "float with the currents. Sometimes they'll wash into bays, where they'll stay until they get washed back out or the community pushes them out."

"But these ones keep coming back to the beach. Something must be bringing them back."

Ash nodded. His hand found the small ball of rock that he had found under the sand on the beach. He tossed it up and down in his hand as he sat in thought. What drew him to this specific piece of rock? It hadn't even been visible, yet he had known that it was there. Why? He closed his eyes, lost in thought. As he tossed it, an idea struck him.

"Hold this," he said, handing the rock to Sabrina. She nodded, obviously confused, and Ash closed his eyes, letting the world fade away. He was right! The stone itself… all around it was a void of nothing. Not the usual feeling of empty aura, just… nothing.

"Something's up with the stone," Ash said, "It blocks out aura."

"Hmm," Sabrina said, examining the stone, "Maybe this stone is one of the meteorites that fall in the area, and something about it blocks out aura.

"I've got an idea," Ash said, "I'm going to head back to the beach for a minute, I'll be back soon."

Ash jogged back to the beach and shut the world out again.

"There's something down there," Ash murmured to Pikachu, sitting on his shoulder, "It's far out enough that I didn't notice, but there's another void. And if there's a void…"

Back at the Pokémon Center, Ash explained his theory.

"There's a Pokémon trapped under the rocks," he said, "the tides probably washed it in, and then when the meteorites fell, one blocked its pathway out. Now, the Tentacool won't leave without it, but if anybody gets close, they think it's under attack."

"So they're defending another Tentacool!" Misty said.

"Exactly," Ash nodded.

"So what do we do?" Misty asked.

"I've got Pikachu's Iron Tail, and Nidorino. If we can find a way to get close, then I can destroy the meteor. I'll need somebody to buy me some time."

"Vaporeon and I can distract them, but I don't know for how long," Misty countered. Sabrina pressed a Pokéball into Ash's hand.

"You may not let ME come with you, but let Abra. You'll need to get to the other side of the rock down there. Abra can get you there."

"Then, all Vaporeon and I have to do is draw them away so they don't attack after you free their friend,"Misty added.

"Then we've got a plan," Ash said, Misty nodded.

Ash called the company to confirm their plan. The company agreed.

"If you're right, and that means they'll head back to sea, then you have my full support," Mrs Mclean said. Ash hung up the call and turned to Misty, confirming that they were good to go.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Sabrina asked.

"Rest," Ash insisted, "we'll be back before you know it."

"Be careful," she said, hugging Ash.

"I… I will," Ash said.

Ash and Sabrina went back to the beach and set up for their plan. Misty stood on an outcropping of rocks where she'd be able to command Vaporeon, who waited at the edge of the Tentacools' zone of aggravation. The Poison-types swam by, sending a silent warning toward them not to get any closer.

"Can you tell where we're going?" Ash asked. Abra closed his eyes in concentration. He seemed more nervous than when he trained with Sabrina. Worried about his trainer, Ash supposed. Abra nodded at Ash.

"Teleport, now."

In a flash of light, Abra and Ash vanished from the beach. Ash appeared a few feet in the air inside a large cavern. He braced himself as he landed in about a foot of water.

"No Charmeleon then," Ash murmured, "Figures. Pikachu, light it up," Ash said. The mouse then let his cheeks glow with electricity, allowing Ash to see around him. He returned Abra to his Pokéball, obviously without his trainer he wasn't feeling as confident, and he wouldn't be of much help in combat anyway. He closed his eyes, letting the world fade away. He sensed where the void was and headed toward it. He reached the edge of a large cavern. An injured Pokémon floated in the shallow water.

"Tenta… cruel," it growled, spotting the approaching trainer. No wonder the pack didn't want to leave, and seemed so chaotic, this Tentacruel was huge! Probably an elder, and leader of the pack.

"I'm here to help, Tentacruel," Ash said. He tried to reach out with his aura to calm the Pokémon, but the Pokémon was unresponsive.

"No aura, right," Ash muttered. Suddenly, a group of large tentacles launched toward Ash. He leapt to the side and dodged the attack.

"Pikachu, use-" he started, but stopped himself. The Pokémon was simply defending itself. The target was the stone. He spotted the boulder of strange stone blocking an opening. Water trickled around the bottom. Ash grabbed a group of Pokéballs from his belt.

"Nidorino, Squirtle, Ivysaur, you're up!" Ash said. The three Pokémon leapt forth and joined Pikachu. It was going to take a lot to break something that big.

"Attack, now!" Ash said. The four Pokémon launched their attacks at the stone.

On the surface, the impact sent ripples through the water.

"Now, Vaporeon!" Misty yelled. Vaporeon launched forward, drawing the attention of the Tentacool. For good measure, she launched a barrage of Water Pulse at the Pokémon, then swam quickly back toward Misty. The Tentacool launched Poison Sting, but before they could hit, Vaporeon had become one with the ocean water. Impossible to detect, nearly impossible to hit. The Tentacool swarmed and followed after the trainer.

The stone shuttered, but didn't break.

"Again!" Ash called. Suddenly, a blast of Acid launched toward him. The water curved around him and blocked the attack. Nidorino growled and stepped between Ash and the Tentacruel.

"Looks like we don't have a choice," Ash said. He evaluated the battlefield. Electric attacks could risk shocking the water and injuring him and his Pokémon, so Pikachu was out. He didn't want to hurt Tentacruel too much, and he needed his muscle to hit

"You four keep working on the stone!" Ash said. He grabbed his final Pokéball.

"Sneasel, you're up," Ash said. The Pokémon appeared in a flash of blue light. As the light died down, the black Pokémon nearly faded away into the dark cavern walls. Perfect. Ash smiled as Sneasel turned to look at Ash, confused and awaiting instructions.

"Welcome to the big leagues, Sneasel. I'm not going to be able to see you, so I'm trusting your judgement. Stick to the shadows, find the blind spot," Ash commanded, "You're too young to take too many hits from this thing, but all we need to do is draw its fire. Hone Claws, then Fury Swipes." Sneasel let out a confident battle cry and launched forward. It dashed along outcroppings in the cavern walls and Ash could faintly see its claws glowing, growing sharper. Tentacruel directed its attention to the other four Pokémon.

"Get in there, Sneasel!" Ash yelled.

Sneasel grinned. It was showtime at last. He leapt forward dived for one of the tentacles. He landed and ran along it, slashing furiously at any tentacle that came close. He dealt a hit on the Pokémon's back, then launched himself backward, doing a flip and aiming to return to the wall. He reminded himself that the goal was to distract, not defeat. He ran along the wall, keeping the Tentacruel distracted, then leapt in for another barrage.

"Faster," the voice in his head said, "faster and faster."

He felt powerful, more in tune with his abilities than ever in training sessions. He finally leapt back toward the wall. He almost reached safety when a tentacle smacked into him, sending him flying toward the water.

"Snea!" Sneasel grunted as the attack hit him.

"Sneasel!" Ash called, he reached for the Pokémon's Pokéball. He wasn't losing anybody in this fight. The Pokéball beeped at him as he pressed the switch: Out of Range. Oh, no.

Sneasel grimaced as the water approached, but instinct took over. He flipped and let his feet touch the water, as it froze into a sheet of ice.

"Faster and faster," the voice in his head commanded, and Sneasel took off. He mimicked Ash's movements from that morning. Side to side, faster and faster. He passed by his trainer, who sighed in relief, eyes wide with awe.

"Ice Shard," Ash said, "Yes, Sneasel! That's great!" Ash glanced toward the roof of the cavern. The rock was beginning to break. Just a few more hits and they'd be good to go.

This was taking longer than expected. Misty was getting worried. She could only keep the Tentacool running around in circles for so long, and they were beginning to notice the activity at the bottom of the bay. Misty grabbed another Pokéball.

"Staryu, go!" she called, "Intercept them!"

As she threw her other Pokémon's ball, a second beam of light shot from her waist, and Horsea appeared in the water. Misty smiled, "let's go, then! Circle around and cut them off!"

The Pokémon nodded and swam around the swarm of Tentacool, blocking their return to the stone.

"Smokescreen!" Misty called. Horsea shot a jet of black mist into the water, blinding its opponents. As the swarm struggled to form, Vaporeon and Staryu slammed into them, knocking them off balance.

The cracks grew larger, and water began streaming into the pit. Ash knew he had to finish this quickly. Sneasel was moving like a flash, skating across the water as it froze. It ran circles around one stream of water, freezing it into a makeshift staircase, then leaping down on top of the Tentacruel. He had a plan. He shouted to the other Pokémon, which nodded and moved back, heading toward Ash.

"What are… okay, Sneasel, I see your game,"Ash said. he returned his other Pokémon.

"Get ready, Abra," he said, sending out the psychic-type again. The Pokémon began focusing to return them to the surface. Sneasel sprinted up a pillar of water, turning to ice as he ran. He leapt toward the rock, and Tentacruel sent a barrage of tentacles toward him. He landed his feet on the cavern ceiling and pushed off, launching toward Ash. The trainer caught the Pokémon just as Tentacruel's tentacles struck the cavern roof, shattering the rock. Water began to swirl down on top of them, and Abra teleported Pokémon and trainer back to the beach, bracing himself in exhaustion upon arrival. Misty saw the water swirling downward and called her Pokémon back. The Tentacool saw their friend rise and their anger died down.

Once the water had settled, the Tentacool and Tentacruel floated to the surface, docilely bobbing in the water. Ash checked their aura. They were calmed down, and already healing from the ordeal.

"Alright, they'll be okay now. Let's send them back out to sea," Ash said. He sent out Squirtle and Nidorino, while Misty sent out all 3 of her Pokémon. They launched water-type attacks to change the current, and the Pokémon were washed out to sea. Once they left the bay, the current caught them and within the hour they were out of sight.

Ash and Misty returned to the company and reported their success. The Mcleans smiled and delivered their payment, and even Nastina admitted that they did their job.

"I'd suggest building a grate of some kind over that hole," Ash said, "to keep any more accidents from happening." Mrs. Mclean happily agreed. Misty looked at the payment.

"This should be enough for some renovations on the Cerulean Gym," she said. She tucked it away in her bag.

"That's not all," Ash said. He handed her a large shard of stone that he had grabbed from the beach after the incident had wrapped up. It glittered in the light.

"Is that-?" Misty asked.

"A Star Piece," Ash said, "they're rare, and this is the biggest one I've ever seen. Should sell for a pretty high price."

"Are you kidding?" Misty asked, "with the money from this, and the payment from the job, I could build a whole new gym! But… I can't ask you to give this to me."

"You don't have to," Ash said, "I don't need the money, you do. Put Cerulean back on the map, and make your first gym battle with me one to put in the town history books."

Misty smiled and agreed, taking the stone.

"Don't think this means I'll go easy on you," she responded.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Ash said.

The two returned to the Pokémon Center and handed their Pokémon in for treatment. Sabrina reunited with them shortly after, having returned to her room to take another nap while they were gone. Misty glared in Ash's direction, then excused herself to go check on Professor Oak's boat. He sighed and sat down, telling Sabrina about the battle.

"Wish I could have been there," she said.

"You needed rest," Ash said, "we haven't had much downtime."

"I guess so," she said. There was a silence for a second, and Ash finally spoke.

"Speaking of downtime, once we're in Celadon, what say you and I catch a movie or something? I heard they've got a great theater, and that new film from Pokéstar is coming out soon."

"Ash, are you asking me out?" Sabrina asked. Ash paused. This was his out, he could say no, and all would be well. Finally, he opened his mouth and spoke.

"Depends on how you'd respond," he said. Sabrina laughed and blushed, then seemed to turn away in thought.

"If you don't want to, it's fine, we can-"

"Ash," Sabrina said, "I'd love to."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, sounds like fun," she said. She moved slightly over on the couch, closer to Ash, and slipped her hand into his. He smiled, he noticed Misty watching from the other side of the Pokémon Center. She nodded in approval then headed upstairs to her room.

 **A/N: HOLY MAGIKARP THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100 FOLLOWERS!  
** **I'm going to really try to get chapter 24 out faster than I did 23. I may have taken forever to write this chapter, but I never stopped thinking about the story, so I've got ideas, ideas, ideas! See you soon!**


	24. Brawl on Squirtle's Island

Professor Oak's boat sailed smoothly through the water. Ash sat on one of the benches, Sabrina next to him. Misty was taking care of the steering with help from Vaporeon, who leapt in and out of the water, helping to adjust the boat's course. The sun was setting on the horizon. He got up and walked over to the impromptu captain.

"It's getting dark, we should probably call it a night," Ash said. He pointed to an island not far from them. "Good place to make camp?"

Misty nodded. She called the order to Vaporeon and helped adjust the sail to bring the boat to the island.

They anchored the boat and headed to shore, setting up camp on a patch of grass at the end of the rocky beach. The trainers tossed their Pokéballs out and let their teams enjoy the fresh air. Horsea rested in the water by the shore, splashing with Staryu. Vaporeon helped Misty get to work cooking a meal, and the others played around on the beach and in the grass. Ash smiled as Charmeleon, Squirtle, and Ivysaur faced off in a three-way battle royale on the beach. He ran over to watch the battle progress, and couldn't help but shout out advice to his team.

"Charmeleon, you can slow them down with Scary Face! Ivysaur, find the roots from the grass and use them to your advantage! Squirtle-"

His orders were cut off when a shadow passed over the field and a Wartortle landed in the middle of the three battling trainers. An Aqua Tail threw Charmeleon backwards, and then an Ice Punch slammed into Ivysaur's head. Both Pokémon were winded by the attacks, and both Ash and Squirtle leapt forward to defend their friends.

"Squirtle, use-"

"Wait! Hold on a minute!" a voice called. Ash turned toward the source of the voice: a girl dressed in a striped blue tank top and a teal skirt, short hair dyed navy blue.

"Wartortle, hold it!" she called. Wartortle turned to look at the girl in surprise, but acquiesced to her command.

"You're that trainer's Pokémon, aren't you?" She asked, looking at Squirtle. Squirtle nodded. Wartortle nodded at Squirtle and stepped back.

"I'm so sorry Wartortle interrupted your battle," she said, still addressing Squirtle, "you see, he thought you may be one of our friends, getting attacked by this trainer."

The girl introduced herself to Ash as Linzi. Wartortle was her partner. Ash invited her to eat with the others as Misty finished their meal, and she agreed.

"You see, this island is almost solely inhabited by Squirtle and Wartortle," she said. She slipped a backpack off her back and pulled out a photo album. On the first page was a boy and a Blastoise.

"My great-great-grandfather shipwrecked here, and was saved and brought to shore by Blastoise when he was traveling with his Pokémon. He felt he owed them a debt, so when a big storm came through, he came to the island and built shelters for them. Since then, my family has been close friends with the Squirtle Tribe. We help them when they need us, and when the time comes for us to meet our first Pokémon, we all come here to meet our partners. Like Wartortle."

"So, you protect the island?" Misty asked.

"Well, we're supposed to," she said, head down, "But this is my first time here alone. My dad and I used to come here together, and we'd battle with his Blastoise if need be, but now… I'm alone." Misty stood up and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"You're not alone; we'll help you," she said. Ash nodded in agreement. Linzi looked at them in surprise.

"Really?" she asked.

"I make it a rule to never turn down somebody if they need help," Ash said. Linzi's face brightened.

"Alright, well then let's go!"

Ash quickly planned out roles for his friends. Linzi needed help to fix up the shelters, small wood structures built over holes dug in the ground. Sabrina quickly got to work gathering materials. Misty was sent to sort the Squirtle into those who could fight, and those who couldn't.

"Alright," she said, "I want the strongest Squirtles to step forward." Several stepped forward, butting heads with each other. Misty's eyes caught one that seemed to attempt to step forward, then was pushed backward by the commotion.

"You guys go meet with Ash, he needs your help," she said. The combative Squirtles all headed toward the beachside where Ash was training with Linzi. Misty turned toward the one Squirtle who had been pushed down.

Meanwhile, Ash began sparring with Linzi and Wartortle, as the Squirtle arrived, he began splitting them into teams, some battling with Ash and Squirtle against Wartortle, some helping Wartortle.

"They're not going to play fair," he said, "so you need to know how to fight back." Linzi nodded. She began shouting attack directions to the Squirtle, who began tripping over each other to attack Ash's team.

"Work together!" she yelled, the Squirtle didn't heed her directions and continued to attack, getting in each other's way and ignoring Linzi. After about a half an hour of it, Linzi stormed away.

Misty was working with the Squirtle who had been left behind personally when Linzi walked through the villiage. She could see tears falling from the girl's eyes.

"Hey," Misty said, following Linzi.

"Leave me alone," she said.

"Look, I've been in your shoes, and take it from me, the last thing you need is to be alone."

"You've been in my shoes?" Linzi said sceptically, "You don't get it at all, do you?"

"Being left in the shadow of your parent, wanting to make the proud, feeling like you'll never measure up to them? You'd be surprised," Misty replied. She pulled the silver locket from her pocket and tossed it to Linzi.

"That's my mom. She was the Cerulean City gym leader before me. And then she passed away. Until I met Vaporeon, I had no idea what I was doing."

"What changed?"

"I don't know how to describe it. Nothing... yet everything. I stopped trying to be my mom, to do what she did, and started being… me."

"But… what if you make a wrong decision?"

"I'm never in it alone," she said, "Vaporeon and I are always together. She trusts me, and I trust her."

Wartortle wandered into the camp and found Linzi, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You were worried about me, Wartortle?" Linzi asked. Wartortle nodded. Linzi looked at Misty and handed back the locket.

"Thanks, to both of you. I needed that."

Misty, Ash, and Linzi trained together until midnight, when they finally called it a night.

"They should show up tomorrow, at around 8, if their habits hold true," Linzi said.

"We'll be ready," Ash said. He tried to sleep that night, but got up when he heard footsteps outside his tent. Misty was still up, training with a Squirtle and her Vaporeon. He watched for a little bit, then walked back to his tent. He needed his sleep.

The next morning, he stepped aside with his own Squirtle.

"There's going to be a lot of Squirtle battling today, so I'm going to need a way to tell you apart," Ash said. He searched his backpack and pulled out a familiar pair of sunglasses. Squirtle grinned and put them on.

"Here they come," Linzi said. Ash nodded, he could see the blue shapes moving in the water. They surfaced, about 20 Poliwhirl and a Poliwrath. Counting Ash's Squirtle, they had 13 Squirtle, plus Wartortle. Linzi had requested that they only use the Squirtle line, so their other Pokémon were safe in their Pokéballs.

"We're outnumbered," Ash said, "Try to spread them out! Don't get teamed up on!" Squirtle nodded, relaying the orders to the group of 6 that was fighting with him. He examined the organization. Poliwrath was in the back, a group of 7 Poliwhirl in the front, followed by the other 13.

"The front ones must have Water Absorb; the rest probably have Damp. They're keeping the ones that can take our attacks in the front," Ash said.

"Right, my Squirtle, use Dragon Pulse! Keep them back!" Misty called. The Squirtle she had trained with rushed forward, a silver locket around its neck identifying it.

"Mine, use Tackle!" Ash called. Squirtle rushed forward to smack into the Poliwhirl as they charged forward. Two leapt forward to intercept with Double Slap.

"Withdraw!" Ash called.

"Protect!" Misty commanded. The two Squirtle entered their shells, defending from the attack. A glowing blue barrier appeared around Misty's Squirtle, making it completely invulnerable.

"That won't last forever! Back Squirtle up with Skull Bash, Wartortle!" Linzi called.

"Have the others keep the ones with Damp back!" Ash yelled. Squirtle relayed the order and 12 Squirtle rushed forward to keep the 13 Poliwhirl back. Sabrina nodded and ran to help give them commands. Focusing on the Water Absorbing Poliwhirl, Misty, Ash, and Linzi were able to cause them to flee. Poliwrath glared at them as they ran, then seemed to chuckle as he watched the other Squirtle fight. Using Double Slap, the attacking Poliwhirl were able to overpower the defenders.

"You need to work together!" Linzi called, but they ignored her. She frowned and tensed up, then looked at Misty, who nodded.

"Wartortle, help them!" Linzi called. Wartortle began calling out orders to the Squirtle, who nodded and began attacking in an organized form. One would draw attacks with Withdraw or Protect, while the others would launch Water Pulse, Water Gun, and even Scald.

"Back them up, Squirtle!" Misty said. Now, it was 13 against 13.

Across the beach, the Squirtle battled a Poliwhirl. One, seemingly the leader of the Poliwhirls, faced off against Misty's Squirtle. It gestured toward its belly and it began to glow.

"Protect!" Misty called. Squirtle dodged the Hypnosis attack, then jumped out.

"Dragon Pulse!"

The attack was met by an Ice Beam from Poliwhirl. The two beams struggled, then an explosion rocked the beach. Several Squirtle and Poliwhirl were knocked out. Some of the Water Absorb ones returned to the battlefield, gaining confidence.

"This could go either way," Linzi said, "And we can't keep this up forever."

"That won't matter if we beat the Poliwrath," Ash said, "He's the strongest. Beat him and the others will retreat."

Linzi nodded.

"Let's do this."

Wartortle and Ash's Squirtle made their way past the battling Poliwhirl and Squirtle, and Poliwrath charged forward, using Aqua Jet.

"Catch it, Wartortle!" Linzi yelled. Wartortle nodded and used Ice Punch as he attempted to hold back the attack.

"Tackle!" Ash called, and Squirtle jumped in to help catch the Aqua Jet.

"Wartortle! Use-"

"No," Ash cut her off, "trust your Pokémon, they've got this."

Linzi frowned, but didn't continue to give a command. The ice was traveling up the jet, but Poliwrath was still forcing forward, pushing the two turtles backwards across the beach, towards a rocky wall They were losing ground.

"Ash, they're going to lose!"

"Don't give up," Ash shouted, both at the Pokémon and at Linzi. She nodded.

"You can do it, Wartortle!... I believe in you!"

A flash of light engulfed the battlefield. Blue light blinded the trainers.

"Impossible," Linzi murmured.

"Nothing's impossible," Ash responded., "Sometimes a Pokémon just needs that little extra push from their trainers. Mental breakthroughs are just as important as physicals ones." The light faded, and suddenly the two Pokémon fighting Poliwrath had changed position. Wartortle was joined not by a Squirtle, but by a Blastoise. And the sunglasses, were worn by the Wartortle.

"Do it!" Ash yelled. Both Pokémon forced themselves forward, throwing Poliwrath backwards.

"We can finish this," Linzi said. Ash nodded, and stepped backward, calling Wartortle out of the fight. Wartortle returned to him. Blastoise and Poliwrath faced off across the beach. The smaller Pokémon turned to watch their leaders' brawl. Poliwrath leapt forward with a Brick Break, smashing the icy remains of Aqua Jet. Blastoise caught the attack with Ice Punch and threw the Pokémon backwards.

"Use Aqua Tail!" Linzi called. Blastoise spun around and slammed into Poliwrath.

Poliwrath and Blastoise continued to slam into each other, with advice from Linzi from time to time. They were both evenly matched, but a silent agreement seemed to have formed between the teams of Pokémon to not interfere with this battle. Ash looked at the battle.

"Neither one is going to give up," Ash said, "they're too stubborn."

"I'll make him give up," Linzi said, "Use Ice Punch!"

But the longer the battle went on, the more worried Linzi was that Ash was right. Every attack was countered, barely any damage being done. They were so evenly matched, this could go on forever. She grabbed something from her bag.

Misty looked to her and nodded.

"Be you. Make the call."

Linzi nodded and threw the Pokéball at Poliwrath. Silently, the group of observing Pokémon and trainers watched as it was sucked inside. The ball wobbled as Poliwrath struggled, then, triumphantly clicked shut. Linzi had caught Poliwrath. The Poliwhirl were unsure what to do. The Squirtle were exhausted, and they could probably be overpowered, but the girl had just caught their leader! Linzi addressed them.

"This fighting needs to stop! It's doing none of us any good! Now let me talk with your leader!"

They nodded and left, back into the ocean. Linzi sent out Poliwrath, who growled at Blastoise, then turned to face Linzi.

"You want to live on this island, don't you?" she asked. Poliwrath sighed, then nodded.

"Well this is the home of these Pokémon," she said, gesturing at the Squirtle. Poliwrath seemed to consider this, then sighed and nodded. He turned back toward the ocean.

"Wait," Linzi said. She outstretched a hand.

"That… doesn't mean more than one Pokémon can't live together here," she said. Poliwrath looked at her inquisitively.

"You'd have to do your part, of course, and if you're causing trouble we'd have to ask you to leave but… long ago my family came together with this island family. I see no reason you can't do the same." Poliwrath let out a joyful roar, and the Poliwhirl began climbing back out of the ocean.

As they set on repairing the villiage, the trainers talked. Ash held Wartortle, congratulating him on his evolution. He sent out Ivysaur and Charmeleon, and Wartortle proudly roared, now on an even field with them.

"It'll take some getting used to," Linzi said, "but I think it'll be for the best. We've got plenty of food, and Poliwhirl can swim farther, maybe even find more islands!"

"It was a good call," Misty said, "I think your dad would be proud."

"Yeah… and your mom would be proud of you, too. It was your advice that helped me the most," Linzi responded. A Squirtle wandered into the middle of the group and sadly handed back Misty's locket.

"Say," Linzi said, "we're already growing this family… how would you like to be an honorary member?"

Misty was taken aback.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Ash smiled.

"I think she's asking if you'd like to take that Squirtle with you," he said. Misty's face brightened, as did Squirtle's.

"Of course!" Misty said. Squirtle jumped happily in the air. Misty handed him a Pokéball and the Pokémon pressed the button, immediately clicking shut.

"Welcome to the team," she said, smiling as she picked up the ball.

Ash, Misty, and Sabrina helped heal the island Pokèmon as well as their own, then packed up and returned to their boat. The three trainers waved as the Squirtle's and Poliwhirl saw them off. Within a few hours, they could see the mainland in the distance. Ash smiled. His journey was just beginning.

Sabrina excused herself and walked to the other side of the boat. She steadied herself on the boat's railing. Abra appeared from his Pokéball and placed a hand on her leg, concerned.

"She's getting stronger, has been since the chaos on the Anne," Sabrina said. Abra looked toward Ash, then looked at Sabrina inquisitively.

"No," Sabrina said, "I can get a hold on it. He doesn't have to know about her. She's still weak." Abra sighed. Ash walked over.

"You alright?" He asked. She nodded.

"I'm fine," she said, "just… thinking."

 **A/N: What could Sabrina be hiding? Well, I'm the author, I know her secret, but you don't! :D We're getting really close to a part of the story I've been looking forward to since starting Season Two. Please, if you're enjoying the story, or if you're not (although I commend you if you're not and you've gotten this far anyway), if you have any requests or suggestions, leave a review! Episode 25 will hopefully be coming soon!**


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